Natural hazards · Alto

Alto, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alto comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Alto?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alto to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes12%Drought10%Strong wind9%Cold waves9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Alto faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Alto flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Alto.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Alto isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Lee County.

Disasters that hit Alto

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Alto itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Alto.

Brought FEMA money into AltoDeclared for Lee County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$4K to the Township of Alto for repairs

2006

Snow

$4K to the Township of Alto for repairs

Lee County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Alto

Alto and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Altomostly inland floodingModerate

Reynoldsmostly inland floodingModerate

Dementmostly inland floodingLow

Willow Creekmostly inland floodingLow

Milanmostly inland floodingVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’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 here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Alto is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Alto’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Alto. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.