FEMA Records
11
Low volume
Illinois · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
McDonough County, IL
11 FEMA disaster declarations (1999-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 11
- FEMA declarations
- 6
- Major disasters
- 38
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
McDonough 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 safer than 38%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 38%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 11
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 16
- 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 17109 · McDonough County 11 declarations · rank 2854/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 11
- MAJOR-MID 55%
- RANK-LOWER #2,854
- PHOTO-FINISH Meeker
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- 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
McDonough County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among McDonough County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Davis · near 11
Davis · near
11 declarations
- McDonough · this county 11
McDonough · 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 McDonough County carries 11 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2854 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
McDonough County versus quieter counties in this dataset
McDonough County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · McDonough 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
McDonough County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for McDonough County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $2.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 McDonough County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 37.5/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $10.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively High) and community resilience (Relatively High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Drought carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 4.2 modeled event-days per year here, based on 119 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 16 claims and $133.0K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
Start with the state benchmark: a Illinois county averages 12.9 federal declaration records, while McDonough 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.
48 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
McDonough 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
14/25
6 of 11 declarations are major disasters (55%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in McDonough County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - McDonough 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
55%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
38
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike McDonough 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 9 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.3 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 604 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 11 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 46 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 43,185 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 4
Severe Storm 2
Biological 2
Flood 1
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on McDonough County's record, 36% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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 - 6 54.5%
of all 11 declarations
Emergency - 5 45.5%
of all 11 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
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 |
| 4116 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-05-10 |
| 1960 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2011-03-17 |
| 3269 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2006-12-29 |
| 3230 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 1469 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-15 |
| 1416 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2002-05-21 |
| 3161 | ILLINOIS WINTER SNOW STORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-01-17 |
| 3134 | IL-WINTER STORM 1/1/99 | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-08 |
Storm Events in Illinois
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to McDonough 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
16
Total Paid
$133.0K
Avg Per Claim
$8.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 37.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$10.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for McDonough County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Snowstorm. 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
McDonough County's closest FEMA peer: Crook County, OR
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for McDonough County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
McDonough County shows 11 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
McDonough County: 6 of 11 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
McDonough County: NRI composite 37.5 (Very Low).
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 McDonough County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for McDonough 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: 37.5 (Very Low).
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
Most disaster-prone counties
With 11 FEMA declarations, McDonough County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 McDonough County?
The most common disaster type in McDonough County is Snowstorm, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (2), Biological (2), Flood (1).
How does McDonough County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Illinois average?
The typical Illinois county has 12.9 FEMA declaration records; McDonough 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 McDonough County received?
McDonough County has received 6 major disaster declarations, representing 55% of all 11 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has McDonough County filed?
McDonough County has 16 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $133.0K in payments, with an average of $8.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in McDonough County?
No. In McDonough County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in McDonough County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in McDonough County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1999 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for McDonough County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, McDonough County, Illinois has an overall risk score of 37.5 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $10.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to McDonough County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in McDonough County as of the latest release is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Hail (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 4.2 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 119 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 McDonough County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Illinois profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events