Putnam County, Ohio: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Putnam County, Ohio has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 32.9 out of 100, higher than about 32% of US counties, with hail, ice storms and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Putnam County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4077-OH (Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds, declared 20 August 2012). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 28 tornadoes touching Putnam County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Ohio All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 34,443 Buildings worth $7.5 billion Area 489 sq mi Risk rank in Ohio 71 of 88 FIPS 39137
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively Low | 67.8 | $670,707 | about 3.3 a year | 125 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 58.4 | $164,452 | about 1.2 a year | 80 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 53.6 | $434,806 | about once every 645 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 53.1 | $800,170 | about 3.6 a year | 136 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 52.8 | $9.4 million | about once every 2.3 years | 12 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 48.5 | $1.6 million | about once every 3.6 years | 18 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 43.9 | $69,393 | about 10 a year | 189 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 40.2 | $38,986 | about once every 65 years | 4 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 30.5 | $145,817 | about 41 a year | 92,831 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 27.5 | $326 | about once every 13 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 26.7 | $474,750 | about 3.4 a year | 65 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 25.9 | $138,891 | about 4.7 a year | 73 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 2.3 | $1,120 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 7, Snowstorm 2, Hurricane 1, Tornado 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Tornado |
| 1980s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 5 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Putnam 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 28
| Tornadoes touching the county | 28 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (6) |
| Deadliest | 10 Nov 2002, F4, 52.8 mi path, 4 killed, 17 injured |
| Longest path | 10 Nov 2002, F4, 52.8 mi path, 4 killed, 17 injured |
| Most recent | 2 Apr 2025, EF1, 15.3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 4 / 19 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 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 Putnam County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam County (this page) | — | Very Low | 32.9 | Hail |
| Allen County | 28 km | Relatively Low | 73.3 | Earthquake |
| Henry County | 35 km | Very Low | 33.8 | Hail |
| Paulding County | 39 km | Very Low | 21.2 | Hail |
| Hancock County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 54.1 | Hail |
| Van Wert County | 42 km | Very Low | 20.1 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Ohio, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 12.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 98.3 |
| Community risk factor | 0.79 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $14 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 Putnam County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Ohio · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hail: Weather alerts for Ohio
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- 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 Putnam County
What natural disasters is Putnam County, Ohio most at risk from?
Putnam County, Ohio has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 32.9 out of 100, higher than about 32% of US counties, with hail, ice storms and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Putnam County had?
OpenFEMA lists 11 federal disaster declarations that included Putnam County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4077-OH (Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds, declared 20 August 2012). Another 3 Ohio declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Putnam County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 28 tornadoes touching Putnam County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 10 Nov 2002, F4, 52.8 mi path, 4 killed, 17 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.