Natural hazards · Birmingham

Birmingham, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Birmingham comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Birmingham?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Birmingham to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and strong winds.

Cold waves27%Strong wind20%Inland flooding15%Drought11%Hail11%Heat waves8%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Birmingham faces

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

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Hail

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Birmingham flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Schuyler County.

Disasters that hit Birmingham

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BirminghamDeclared for Schuyler County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$3K to the Township of Birmingham for repairs

Schuyler County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Birmingham

Birmingham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Augustamostly cold wavesModerate

Birminghammostly cold wavesModerate

Brooklynmostly cold wavesModerate

Huntsvillemostly cold wavesModerate

Lamoinemostly cold wavesLow

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. Birmingham 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 Birmingham’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Birmingham. 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.