Altona’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Altona comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Altona’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Altona flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Altona. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Altona isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Knox County.How exposed is Altona?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and strong winds.
Rated higher than 1,647 of the 2,886 Illinois towns we cover.
Altona is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Altona faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Strong wind
Drought
Cold waves
Tornadoes
Hail
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Altona
Disasters that paid out in Altona itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Village of Altona) and its biggest flood years.
- 2013Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding2 households applied for aid$760 aid approved
Knox County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Old photos of Altona after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Altona archive →Get ready for what Altona actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- On a well? Know how deep it is and watch for sputtering.
- Follow the town’s watering limits.
- Fix drips: they add up.
- 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.
Disasters here can come any time of year
The month each of Knox 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 Altona’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Altona.
- 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 Altona.
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.