SkyGround

County-level natural hazard risk data for researchers

All counties

Ottawa County, KS

Population: 5,735 · FIPS code: 20143

Very Low Overall risk index: 16.9 / 100 (percentile among US counties)

Hazard breakdown

Hazard NRI rating NRI score NOAA events
(2016–2025)
Wildfire Relatively Low 72.6 0
Inland Flooding Very Low 24 13
Coastal Flooding Not Applicable — 0
Earthquake Very Low 11.3 —
Heat Wave Very Low 36.4 0
Tornado Relatively Low 43.9 6

NOAA event counts are recorded county-level storm events from the NOAA Storm Events Database for 2016–2025. NOAA does not track earthquakes, and some hazard reports are filed by NWS forecast zone rather than county, so these counts are a partial, not exhaustive, record of recent activity. See the methodology page for details.

Federal disaster declaration history

Ottawa County has been included in 17 federal disaster declarations between 1973 and 2026, most recently for Severe Storm in 2026 (SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries. Counts reflect county-level declaration records (a single disaster can produce more than one record per county), not modeled risk.

Geomagnetic latitude

Ottawa County sits at approximately 47.4°N geomagnetic latitude. Aurora is rarely visible this far from the geomagnetic poles, even during the most severe (G5) geomagnetic storms — though historic extreme storms have occasionally been seen at unusually low latitudes. See current space weather conditions for live geomagnetic activity and aurora forecasts.

Geomagnetic latitude is an approximate dipole-model calculation based on this county's geographic centroid (US Census Bureau). See the methodology page for details and limitations.

What these ratings mean

Each score reflects how Ottawa County's expected losses from that hazard compare to every other county in the country, based on FEMA's National Risk Index. A "Very High" rating means this county is among the most exposed in the US for that hazard relative to other counties — it does not mean a disaster is likely this year. See the methodology page for how these scores are calculated.