Adair’s biggest natural hazard is drought
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Adair comes from drought, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Adair’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Adair flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Adair. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Adair isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: McDonough County.How exposed is Adair?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 54% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and cold waves.
Calmer than 1,534 of the 2,886 Illinois towns we cover.
Adair is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Adair faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Drought
Cold waves
Inland flooding
Strong wind
Heat waves
Tornadoes
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Adair
Disasters that paid out in Adair itself (aid to households or repair grants to Adair) and its biggest flood years.
- 2013Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding10 households applied for aid$15K aid approved
McDonough County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.
Old photos of Adair after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Adair archive →Get ready for what Adair actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in April–June
The month each of McDonough County’s 9 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
- Compared by rate. “Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Adair’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Adair.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Adair.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.