FEMA Records
11
Low volume
Illinois · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Macon County, IL
11 FEMA disaster declarations (1974-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 11
- FEMA declarations
- 8
- Major disasters
- 83
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Macon County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 11 declarations, more than 12% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 14% below the Illinois county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 17%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 17%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 11
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 208
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 17115 · Macon County 11 declarations · rank 2875/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 11
- MAJOR-MID 73%
- RANK-LOWER #2,875
- PHOTO-FINISH Meeker
- NRI-MID 83
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -14%
Nearest declaration peer: Meeker, MN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Illinois state profile
Macon County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Macon County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Davis · near 11
Davis · near
11 declarations
- Macon · this county 11
Macon · this county
11 declarations
- Meeker · near 11
Meeker · near
11 declarations
- Wasatch · near 11
Wasatch · near
11 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Macon County carries 11 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2875 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Macon County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Macon County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Macon County
11 12th percentile higher than 12% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Macon County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Macon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $21.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Cold Wave carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Macon County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 208 paid claims, totaling $1.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $6.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Illinois county averages 12.9 federal declaration records, while Macon County has 11. The gap is 14% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 83.3/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $47.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 3.2 times per year here, based on 61 historical events on record.
55 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Macon County, IL · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Moderate
8/30
11 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
11 declarations (0.9x state county average of 13)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
8 of 11 declarations are major disasters (73%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Macon County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Macon County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
73%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
83
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Macon County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 7.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 357 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 5 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 2.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 8.6 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 48 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 69 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 24,173 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 2
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Flood 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Snowstorm 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Macon County's record, 18% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 8 72.7%
of all 11 declarations
Emergency - 3 27.3%
of all 11 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 2 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 11 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 11 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4728 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-08-15 |
| 4489 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3435 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 1681 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-02-09 |
| 3230 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 1416 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2002-05-21 |
| 3134 | IL-WINTER STORM 1/1/99 | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-08 |
| 1110 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-04-23 |
| 583 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-04-30 |
| 438 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-06-10 |
| 427 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-11 |
Storm Events in Illinois
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Macon County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,218 | 9 | 67 | $46.0M |
| Hail | 3,195 | 0 | 0 | $27.1M |
| Winter Weather | 1,363 | 14 | 49 | $1.8M |
| Flood | 1,221 | 14 | 11 | $84.3M |
| Flash Flood | 1,133 | 11 | 3 | $1.1B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
208
Total Paid
$1.4M
Avg Per Claim
$6.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 83.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$47.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Macon County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Macon County's closest FEMA peer: Woodbury County, IA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Macon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Macon County: NRI composite 83.3 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Macon County: 8 of 11 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Macon County shows 11 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Macon County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Macon County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 83.3 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 11. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Macon County's NFIP claims file (208 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Macon County?
The most common disaster type in Macon County is Flood, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (2), Biological (2), Tornado (2).
How does Macon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Illinois average?
The typical Illinois county has 12.9 FEMA declaration records; Macon County has 11, or 14% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 47% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Macon County received?
Macon County has received 8 major disaster declarations, representing 73% of all 11 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Macon County filed?
Macon County has 208 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.4M in payments, with an average of $6.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Macon County?
No. In Macon County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $21.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Macon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Macon County was 1974, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1974 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Macon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Macon County, Illinois has an overall risk score of 83.3 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $47.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Macon County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Macon County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Earthquake (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 3.2 times per year, drawn from 61 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Macon County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Illinois profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events