Milwaukee County, Wisconsin: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 98.4 out of 100, higher than about 98% of US counties, with cold waves, tornadoes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $342 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 20 federal disaster declarations that included Milwaukee County since 1969, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4923-WI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 30 June 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Milwaukee County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 939,336 Buildings worth $153 billion Area 1,202 sq mi Risk rank in Wisconsin 1 of 72 FIPS 55079
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Very High | 100.0 | $177 million | about 4.9 a year | 93 |
| Tornado | Very High | 99.0 | $32 million | about once every 2.5 years | 12 |
| Heat wave | Relatively High | 99.0 | $25 million | about 3.1 a year | 48 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 97.0 | $101 million | about 2.1 a year | 59 |
| Winter weather | Very High | 96.8 | $818,966 | about 16 a year | 301 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 94.8 | $2.6 million | about 3.1 a year | 26 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 86.2 | $1.1 million | about 2.7 a year | 107 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 80.8 | $1.5 million | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 77.1 | $287,026 | about once every 2.1 years | 7 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 61.7 | $308,993 | about 34 a year | 438,662 strikes |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 35.6 | $7,398 | about once every 79 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 31.0 | $290 | about once every 21 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 29.5 | $11,840 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 18.8 | $4,642 | about once every 174 years | 2 |
| Drought | Very Low | 16.7 | $1,319 | about 1.5 a year | 91 |
| 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 20
Most common: Flood 8, Severe Storm 7, Snowstorm 4, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Flood |
| 1970s | 3 | Flood ×2, Snowstorm |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2000s | 6 | Severe Storm ×3, Snowstorm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 2 | Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 3 | Flood ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Milwaukee County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3249-WI): 72 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding (1993, DR-994-WI): 47 Wisconsin counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2004, DR-1526-WI): 44 Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin also had 1 statewide declaration with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 21
| Tornadoes touching the county | 21 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×8 |
| Peak month | August (8) |
| Deadliest | 11 Aug 1969, F1, 0.3 mi path, 0 killed, 153 injured |
| Longest path | 14 Jul 1972, F1, 34 mi path |
| Most recent | 12 Oct 2022, EF0, 3.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 178 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
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 Milwaukee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 98.4 | Cold wave |
| Waukesha County | 27 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.9 | Cold wave |
| Racine County | 30 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.4 | Cold wave |
| Ozaukee County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 50.3 | Cold wave |
| Washington County | 46 km | Relatively Low | 68.3 | Cold wave |
| Kenosha County | 48 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.0 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Wisconsin, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 63.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 98.6 |
| Community risk factor | 1.20 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $342 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 Milwaukee County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Wisconsin · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- 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 Milwaukee County
What natural disasters is Milwaukee County, Wisconsin most at risk from?
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 98.4 out of 100, higher than about 98% of US counties, with cold waves, tornadoes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $342 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Milwaukee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 20 federal disaster declarations that included Milwaukee County since 1969, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4923-WI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 30 June 2026). Another 1 Wisconsin declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Milwaukee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Milwaukee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 11 Aug 1969, F1, 0.3 mi path, 0 killed, 153 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.