Ottawa County, Ohio: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Ottawa County, Ohio has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with strong winds, winter storms and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $22 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Ottawa County since 1969, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3346-OH (Severe Storms, declared 30 June 2012). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 15 tornadoes touching Ottawa County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Ohio All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 40,343 Buildings worth $16 billion Area 591 sq mi Risk rank in Ohio 44 of 88 FIPS 39123
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 78.7 | $1.3 million | about 3.4 a year | 126 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 76.4 | $187,129 | about 8.9 a year | 169 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 74.6 | $300,177 | about 1.2 a year | 73 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 72.8 | $2.9 million | about once every 3.9 years | 11 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 72.6 | $15 million | about 1.1 a year | 30 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 70.4 | $595,020 | about 3.3 a year | 275 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 52.9 | $340,316 | about once every 893 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Low | 49.0 | $88,451 | about once every 66 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 44.0 | $44,541 | about once every 58 years | 6 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 35.0 | $561,579 | about 4.2 a year | 80 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 33.2 | $171,960 | about 3 a year | 51 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 30.2 | $115,248 | about 37 a year | 78,422 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 21.5 | $143 | about once every 28 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 14.0 | $5,020 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 11
Most common: Severe Storm 5, Flood 3, Hurricane 1, Snowstorm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×3, Snowstorm |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2000s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Ottawa County
- Severe Storms (2012, EM-3346-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3250-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2004, DR-1556-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Ohio also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 15
| Tornadoes touching the county | 15 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (6) |
| Deadliest | 5 Jun 2010, EF4, 8.8 mi path, 7 killed, 28 injured |
| Longest path | 10 Jun 1986, F1, 18 mi path |
| Most recent | 18 Jun 2025, EF0, 0.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 7 / 45 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Ottawa County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 59.2 | Strong wind |
| Sandusky County | 20 km | Relatively Low | 56.7 | Hail |
| Lucas County | 44 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.4 | Tornado |
| Wood County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 65.7 | Ice storm |
| Seneca County | 46 km | Relatively Low | 46.9 | Hail |
| Erie County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 61.4 | Winter weather |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Ohio, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 34.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 99.5 |
| Community risk factor | 0.98 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $22 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Ottawa County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Ohio · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Ottawa County
What natural disasters is Ottawa County, Ohio most at risk from?
Ottawa County, Ohio has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with strong winds, winter storms and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $22 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Ottawa County had?
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Ottawa County since 1969, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3346-OH (Severe Storms, declared 30 June 2012). Another 3 Ohio declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Ottawa County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 15 tornadoes touching Ottawa County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 5 Jun 2010, EF4, 8.8 mi path, 7 killed, 28 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.