FEMA declarations
68
Below median
State profile · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Illinois Natural Disasters
Illinois's federal declaration record sits near the middle of the state distribution. 68 FEMA disaster declarations are on record, led by severe storm, with $1.6B in combined property and crop damage. A moderate count like this can still mask a single catastrophic year rather than a steady annual pattern. NOAA storm event data shows 22,088 recorded weather events resulting in 165 fatalities, figures the state uses to prioritize disaster-preparedness planning.
- 68
- FEMA declarations
- 22,088
- NOAA storm events
- 165
- Storm fatalities
- $1.6B
- Property + crop damage
The Illinois risk picture
6 of the 102 counties FEMA scores, 6%, carry a FEMA "high-risk" National Risk Index rating, with riverine flooding the single largest driver of expected annual loss statewide. Illinois has 59 Major Disaster (DR) declarations; FEMA authorizes Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both separately for each declaration. NOAA-tracked storms have caused 495 injuries statewide.
- 6%
- of counties rated high-risk by FEMA National Risk Index
- 68
- FEMA disaster declarations on record
- $1.6B
- in tracked property + crop damage
- 51,098
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed statewide
FEMA's National Risk Index and NOAA's Storm Events Database measure different things: modeled long-run risk vs. observed severe-weather events. Storm Events is a reported dataset, so its counts track what was observed and logged, not every event that occurred, and reporting is denser where more people live. See the methodology for how they relate.
Major Disaster share
87%
Mostly major
NOAA storm events
22,088
Observed severe-weather records
How does Illinois compare?
Illinois vs. every U.S. state
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
68 44th percentile higher than 44% of 59 states and territories
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states and territories. 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 · 2026-08-03
Illinois county risk-score spread
FEMA National Risk Index composite scores, 0–100
54.5 Top 50% higher than 50% of 102 county composite scores
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more county composite scores. 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 National Risk Index (NRI), county composite scores · 2026-08-03
The declaration chart counts past federal actions. The county score chart summarizes FEMA's modeled National Risk Index composite; it is not a forecast, and a state average does not describe every county.
Do more storms mean more federal disasters?
Illinois sits at the 40th percentile of FEMA declaration volume and the 85th percentile of NOAA storm-event volume among 55 states and territories, those two ranks are not interchangeable.
FEMA declaration rank vs NOAA storm-event rank
Read the chart, every state as text
Percentiles are within this release's state/territory sample. Raw counts are the underlying FEMA and NOAA totals.
| State | FEMA decls | FEMA %ile | NOAA storms | NOAA %ile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 396 | 98 | 23,694 | 93 |
| Texas | 389 | 96 | 53,309 | 98 |
| Oklahoma | 258 | 95 | 23,896 | 95 |
| Washington | 215 | 93 | 4,408 | 22 |
| Florida | 188 | 91 | 12,838 | 55 |
| Oregon | 169 | 89 | 3,695 | 20 |
| New Mexico | 126 | 87 | 10,974 | 45 |
| Arizona | 120 | 85 | 9,541 | 38 |
| New York | 118 | 84 | 21,653 | 82 |
| Montana | 112 | 82 | 13,576 | 56 |
| Colorado | 111 | 78 | 18,340 | 73 |
| Louisiana | 111 | 78 | 11,204 | 47 |
| Nevada | 110 | 76 | 4,534 | 24 |
| Alabama | 102 | 75 | 14,583 | 64 |
| Kentucky | 98 | 71 | 19,947 | 78 |
| Mississippi | 98 | 71 | 14,100 | 62 |
| Tennessee | 97 | 69 | 16,645 | 69 |
| South Dakota | 96 | 67 | 22,759 | 87 |
| Alaska | 94 | 64 | 2,683 | 15 |
| Kansas | 94 | 64 | 25,115 | 96 |
| Arkansas | 87 | 60 | 13,637 | 58 |
| Nebraska | 87 | 60 | 20,136 | 80 |
| Missouri | 86 | 58 | 22,952 | 89 |
| North Carolina | 85 | 56 | 16,367 | 67 |
| West Virginia | 84 | 55 | 12,026 | 49 |
| Georgia | 81 | 51 | 16,676 | 71 |
| Minnesota | 81 | 51 | 19,109 | 75 |
| Iowa | 78 | 49 | 21,883 | 84 |
| Virginia | 77 | 47 | 23,584 | 91 |
| North Dakota | 75 | 45 | 10,818 | 44 |
| Hawaii | 72 | 44 | 6,200 | 31 |
| Maine | 71 | 42 | 4,781 | 27 |
| Illinois | 68 | 40 | 22,088 | 85 |
| Pennsylvania | 64 | 38 | 19,427 | 76 |
| New Hampshire | 63 | 36 | 2,547 | 11 |
| Vermont | 62 | 35 | 3,449 | 18 |
| Idaho | 60 | 31 | 5,142 | 29 |
| Ohio | 60 | 31 | 16,184 | 65 |
| Massachusetts | 59 | 25 | 6,781 | 33 |
| New Jersey | 59 | 25 | 8,218 | 35 |
| Utah | 59 | 25 | 4,578 | 25 |
| Wisconsin | 56 | 24 | 13,807 | 60 |
| Indiana | 54 | 22 | 12,687 | 53 |
| Puerto Rico | 51 | 18 | 2,944 | 16 |
| South Carolina | 51 | 18 | 10,520 | 42 |
| Michigan | 46 | 16 | 9,052 | 36 |
| Wyoming | 45 | 15 | 12,494 | 51 |
| Connecticut | 43 | 13 | 2,622 | 13 |
| Maryland | 38 | 11 | 10,290 | 40 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 33 | 9 | 88 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 31 | 7 | 924 | 7 |
| Delaware | 26 | 5 | 1,475 | 9 |
| Guam | 25 | 4 | 258 | 2 |
| District of Columbia | 24 | 2 | 452 | 5 |
| American Samoa | 17 | 0 | 292 | 4 |
What shapes Illinois's record?
FEMA declaration types in Illinois
Wider bars = more declarations of that incident type
- Severe Storm
Severe Storm
26 declarations
- Flood
Flood
19 declarations
- Tornado
Tornado
11 declarations
- Snowstorm 7
Snowstorm
7 declarations
- Biological 2
Biological
2 declarations
- Severe Ice Storm 2
Severe Ice Storm
2 declarations
- Hurricane 1
Hurricane
1 declarations
What this shows Severe Storm leads Illinois's FEMA declaration mix with 26 records among the types shown.
NOAA storm events by year
Reported severe-weather events in Illinois, 2015–2025 catalog window.
Peak year in this series: 2025 (2,702 events). Counts are reported events, not a complete census.
80 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Illinois · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite mixing OpenFEMA declaration totals (1953–present) with NOAA Storm Events (2015–2025), different windows and event definitions, disclosed weights on the methodology page . 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
12/30
68 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.8x state average)
NOAA Storm Events (2015–2025) Very High
25/25
22088 NOAA storm events in the 2015–2025 extract (2.0x median state)
NOAA Damage (2015–2025) Very High
25/25
Recorded NOAA property+crop damage in the 2015–2025 extract (2.8x median state)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Illinois
What does Illinois's hazard record show?
Flood exposure & where to dig deeper
Flood exposure is quantified separately through the National Flood Insurance Program. Policyholders across 101Illinois counties have filed 51,098 NFIP claims totaling $582.3M, or an average of $11.4K per claim. NFIP data captures only insured flood losses, so uninsured flood damage and storm-surge losses outside mapped high-risk zones remain invisible in this figure. The highest-Expected-Annual-Loss hazard across the state is Riverine Flooding, estimated at $2.9B annually. Drill into individual counties for localized risk, read FEMA's hazard-specific briefings, and review insurance and flood-zone designations, state-level averages can mask sharp county-to-county differences in exposure and resilience.
NOAA storm events & FEMA National Risk Index
NOAA's Storm Events Database adds the near-term severe-weather lens. Between 2015 and 2025, Illinois recorded 22,088 individual storm events, causing 165 fatalities and 495 injuries, with combined property and crop damage estimated at $1.6B. The most frequent event types in the state are Thunderstorm Wind (7,218 events), Hail (3,195 events), Winter Weather (1,363 events). Across the 102counties FEMA scores here, its National Risk Index flags 6 as high-risk, with an average county Risk Index score (FEMA's own formula, distinct from our Historical Activity tool below) of 54.5/100.
What this count is, and is not. Storm Events is a reported database: NOAA compiles it from National Weather Service offices, trained spotters, law enforcement, and the public. It is a record of what was observed and logged, not a complete census of severe weather. Densely populated areas report more events than sparsely populated ones with similar meteorological exposure, and detection has improved over time, so an event count is not a like-for-like measure of hazard between places or across decades. Damage figures are field estimates, not audited losses. See methodology.
FEMA disaster declarations
Illinois (IL) has a moderate level of federal declaration activity, with 68 FEMA declaration records, including 59 Major Disaster declarations (DR). A DR may authorize Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both; those program approvals are not implied by the DR count. The dominant declaration type is Severe Storm, followed by Flood (19), Tornado (11), Snowstorm (7). Declaration counts at the state level reflect the cumulative federal footprint: large multi-county events count once per state, but repeat hazard patterns across decades are visible in the breakdown below.
Disaster Types in Illinois
Severe Storm 26
Flood 19
Tornado 11
Snowstorm 7
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 2
Hurricane 1
Storm Events by Type
NOAA storm event data for Illinois (2015-2025).
| Event 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 |
| Dense Fog | 1,122 | 5 | 15 | $19.0K |
| Tornado | 958 | 15 | 174 | $249.4M |
| Strong Wind | 875 | 6 | 11 | $1.2M |
| Winter Storm | 727 | 4 | 1 | $450.0K |
| Heat | 654 | 5 | 25 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 637 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 476 | 1 | 1 | $245.0K |
| Drought | 424 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 418 | 2 | 6 | $969.0K |
| Frost/Freeze | 387 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 373 | 28 | 0 | $8.0K |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 242 | 7 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Rain | 226 | 4 | 1 | $285.0K |
| Ice Storm | 102 | 3 | 47 | $6.2M |
| Funnel Cloud | 101 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Storm Events by Year
| Year | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,702 | 11 | 33 | $532.5M |
| 2024 | 2,568 | 14 | 86 | $19.9M |
| 2023 | 2,505 | 15 | 106 | $565.8M |
| 2022 | 2,181 | 4 | 11 | $16.0M |
| 2021 | 1,618 | 21 | 21 | $36.8M |
| 2020 | 1,756 | 11 | 32 | $48.5M |
| 2019 | 2,095 | 16 | 15 | $47.0M |
| 2018 | 1,709 | 9 | 44 | $143.7M |
| 2017 | 1,732 | 11 | 49 | $61.3M |
| 2016 | 1,412 | 15 | 33 | $23.6M |
| 2015 | 1,810 | 38 | 65 | $72.3M |
FEMA Disaster Declarations
How the 68 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download all 68 declarations as CSV . Source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
68 unique disaster declarations in Illinois.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4819 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODNG | DR | Flood | 2024-09-20 |
| 4749 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2023-11-20 |
| 4728 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-08-15 |
| 4676 | SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2022-10-14 |
| 3577 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | EM | Tornado | 2021-12-13 |
| 4489 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3435 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4461 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-09-19 |
| 4157 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 2013-11-26 |
| 4116 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-05-10 |
| 1991 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-06-07 |
| 1960 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2011-03-17 |
| 1935 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-08-19 |
| 1850 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-07-02 |
| 1826 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-03-02 |
| 1800 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-10-03 |
| 1771 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-06-24 |
| 3283 | RECORD SNOW AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2008-03-13 |
| 1747 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-03-07 |
| 1729 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-09-25 |
| 1722 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-30 |
| 1681 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-02-09 |
| 3269 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2006-12-29 |
| 1633 | TORNADOES AND SEVERE STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-03-28 |
| 3230 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 3199 | RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-01 |
| 1513 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-04-23 |
| 1469 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-15 |
| 1416 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2002-05-21 |
| 1368 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2001-05-09 |
| 3161 | ILLINOIS WINTER SNOW STORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-01-17 |
| 1278 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLASH FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-05-28 |
| 3134 | IL-WINTER STORM 1/1/99 | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-08 |
| 1188 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-09-17 |
| 1170 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-03-21 |
| 1129 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-07-25 |
| 1112 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-05-06 |
| 1110 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-04-23 |
| 1053 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-05-30 |
| 1025 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-04-26 |
| 997 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 941 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1992-04-15 |
| 878 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1990-08-29 |
| 871 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-06-22 |
| 860 | SEVERE ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1990-03-06 |
| 819 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1989-01-13 |
| 798 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1987-08-21 |
| 776 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-07 |
| 735 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1985-03-29 |
| 684 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1983-06-06 |
Showing 50 of 68 declarations.
FEMA National Risk Index
Composite natural hazard risk scores for Illinois counties based on FEMA's National Risk Index.
Avg County Risk Score
54.5/100
High Risk Counties
6
of 102 counties
Top Hazard by EAL
Riverine Flooding
$2.9B annual loss est.
Top 5 Hazards by Expected Annual Loss
#1
Riverine Flooding
$2.9B EAL
#2
Cold Wave
$1.4B EAL
#3
Tornado
$875.7M EAL
#4
Earthquake
$469.6M EAL
#5
Heat Wave
$359.0M EAL
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) EAL = Expected Annual Loss. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
National Flood Insurance Program claims across Illinois from FEMA NFIP data.
Total Claims
51,098
Total Paid
$582.3M
Avg Per Claim
$11.4K
Counties With Claims
101
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
Counties in Illinois
102 counties with FEMA disaster data.
Highest-risk counties by FEMA National Risk Index
Declaration counts above measure past federal action; FEMA's NRI is a composite of Expected Annual Loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience. By that separate measure the highest-risk counties in Illinois are Cook (100.0), DuPage (97.6), Will (97.3), Lake (96.0), St. Clair (94.9). Compare any county's recorded history with the Historical Activity tool.
All 102 counties in Illinois are listed above.
Disaster Preparedness Guides
Learn more about natural disaster risk, preparedness, and data interpretation.
Preparing for Natural Disasters
Essential steps to prepare your household for the most common natural hazards.
Hazard Risk by Region
How natural disaster risk varies across different US regions.
Climate Change & Disasters
How climate trends are changing the frequency and severity of natural disasters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What natural disasters affect Illinois?
Illinois is affected by severe storm, flood, tornado, snowstorm. Topping the list is Severe Storm, based on 68 FEMA disaster declarations on record.
How many FEMA disaster declarations has Illinois had?
Illinois has received 68 FEMA disaster declarations, including 59 major disaster declarations. That total is spread across disaster types including Severe Storm (26), Flood (19), Tornado (11).
What severe weather events are most common in Illinois?
The most common severe weather events in Illinois include thunderstorm wind (7,218 events), hail (3,195 events), winter weather (1,363 events). Between 2015 and 2025, NOAA recorded these events causing 165 fatalities and $1.6B in property and crop damage.
How active is Illinois's federal disaster declaration record?
Illinois has a moderate level of historical federal declaration activity, based on 68 FEMA declaration records. This band is not a future-risk forecast. Separately, NOAA storm events from 2015-2025 record 165 fatalities and 495 injuries. Combined NOAA-listed property and crop losses total $1.6B.
How many flood insurance claims has Illinois had?
Illinois has 51,098 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims with $582.3M total paid out. Claims average $11.4K, with 101 counties reporting flood insurance claims.
Which counties in Illinois have the most disaster declarations?
Among 102 counties in Illinois, those with the most FEMA declaration records include Calhoun (25 declarations), Pike (25 declarations), Cook (24 declarations). County-level records show where federal declarations have concentrated across the state.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025) For informational purposes only
What this means for Illinois
Calhoun alone accounts for 37% of Illinois's FEMA disaster declarations, out of 102 counties tracked statewide.
- The declaration record is uneven within the state: Calhoun and Pike carry the most FEMA declarations. Browse counties
- See how Illinois ranks against other states for disaster frequency and damage. State rankings
- Learn what FEMA declarations, NRI risk scores, and damage figures do and don't tell you. Disaster-data guide
Historical declaration counts and damage totals describe past federal response, not a forecast. For current threats, follow the National Weather Service and local officials; in an emergency call 911.
PlainHazard derives this presentation from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries. Its county comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.