States › Michigan › Gratiot County

Gratiot County, Michigan

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 26057 · 41,544 residents (2021) · 568 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 42Tornado · 15Flood · 12Wind · 110Winter · 61

Gratiot County within Michigan. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Gratiot County, Michigan, has 242 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 42.6 events per 100 square miles, below the Michigan figure of 64.2, and 58.3 per 10,000 residents against 36.1 statewide.

11 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 2 deaths and 8 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $23M and crop damage at $554K.

FEMA has designated the county in 12 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding (major disaster, 30 Jun 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 36 claims since 1978, of which 23 were paid, totalling $149K (about $6K per paid claim). FEMA counts 51 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($17M a year across 18 hazards).

4 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

11events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

242events since 19502 deaths, 8 injuries recorded

12disaster declarationslast 30 Jun 2026

36NFIP flood claims$149K paid

Compared with Michigan and the United States

Measure	Gratiot County	Michigan	US
Recorded events since 1950	242	36,322	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	42.6	64.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	58.3	36.1	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	11	1,078	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	2	451	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$23M	$6.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.9	1.5	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$6K	$15K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	15.7	21.2	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 3Wind: 1

Tornado: 5Wind: 3

Hail: 1Wind: 6

Hail: 7Tornado: 1Wind: 17

Hail: 5Flood: 2Wind: 20Winter: 15

Hail: 19Tornado: 4Flood: 7Wind: 32Winter: 29Other: 1

Hail: 5Tornado: 1Flood: 2Wind: 13Winter: 13Heat: 1

Hail: 5Tornado: 1Flood: 1Wind: 18Winter: 4

41950s81960s71970s251980s421990s922000s352010s292020s

Recorded events in Gratiot County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 92 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 110 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind110

Winter61

Hail42

Tornado15

Flood12

Heat1

Other1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	110	—	0.7%	detail
■ Winter	61	—	0.6%	detail
■ Hail	42	—	0.7%	detail
■ Tornado	15	2	1.2%	detail
■ Flood	12	—	0.9%	detail
■ Heat	1	—	0.3%
■ Other	1	—	0.5%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
12 May 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	1	4	County
11 Jun 1968	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	1	—	County
26 Jun 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
11 Apr 1965	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
21 May 2001	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$150K	—	—	1	County
8 Mar 2017	High Wind	Wind	60 mph	$10M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
17 Apr 2013	Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	—	—	—	County
24 Feb 2019	High Wind	Wind	60 mph	$3.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
23 May 2004	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	$200K	—	—	Forecast zone
16 Feb 2006	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
31 May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$610K	—	—	—	County
9 Aug 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$500K	—	—	—	County
15 Jun 1982	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
12 Sep 2021	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$250K	—	—	—	County
3 Apr 2003	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$200K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
18 May 2000	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100K	$50K	—	—	County
28 Aug 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
17 Nov 2013	High Wind	Wind	70 mph	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Apr 2018	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
18 May 2020	Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
30 Jun 2026	DR-4925	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Mar 2020	DR-4494	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3455	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
7 Sep 2005	EM-3225	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
10 Jan 2001	EM-3160	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
24 Jun 1998	DR-1226	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms	Public assistance
18 Sep 1986	DR-774	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Sep 1985	DR-744	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Jan 1978	EM-3057	Emergency	Snowstorm	Blizzards & Snowstorms	Public assistance
19 Mar 1976	DR-495	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Icing & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Sep 1975	DR-486	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, High Winds & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Apr 1965	DR-190	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes & Severe Storms	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Gratiot County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197836

Paid claims23

Total paid$149K

Average paid claim$6K

Repetitive-loss properties10 severe

Residential policies in force510.4% of 13,793 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	4	2	$8,192	$4,096
2020	4	3	$28,211	$9,404
2015	1	0	$0	—
2014	2	0	$0	—
2013	3	1	$2,146	$2,146
2009	1	1	$835	$835
2007	1	0	$0	—
2002	1	0	$0	—
1997	2	1	$1,102	$1,102
1990	1	1	$876	$876
1986	16	14	$107,580	$7,684

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 54.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$17MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$9,214,856
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$2,593,374
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,954,470
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,754,371
Winter weather	Relatively High	$372,282
Hail	Relatively Low	$339,774
Heat wave	Very Low	$137,255
Earthquake	Very Low	$89,297
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$87,041
Lightning	Relatively Low	$79,426
Hurricane	Very Low	$25,858
Wildfire	Very Low	$1,953
Landslide	Very Low	$360

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles4

Tracks within 50 miles2

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	78 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1923	34 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	22 mi	63 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

48801 33

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Gratiot County, MI?

NCEI records 42 hail events in Gratiot County since 1950, in 23 different years; that is about 0.5 recorded events a year. 5 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Gratiot County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 15 tornadoes in Gratiot County since 1950, 9 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 2.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Gratiot County?

30 Jun 2026: Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for flood. The county appears in 12 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Gratiot County, and how much was paid?

36 NFIP claims since 1978, 23 of them paid, for $149K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Gratiot County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Gratiot County compare with the rest of Michigan?

42.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 64.2 statewide, and 0.9 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 1.5. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.