Natural hazards · Brighton

Brighton, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Brighton comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Brighton?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Brighton to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes30%Inland flooding26%Cold waves14%Heat waves9%Tornadoes9%Strong wind5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Brighton faces

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

Earthquakes

30% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Brighton flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Macoupin County.

Disasters that hit Brighton

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Macoupin County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Brighton itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into BrightonDeclared for Macoupin County only

Macoupin County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

Around Brighton

Brighton and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Piasamostly inland floodingHigh

Fostermostly inland floodingModerate

Bunker Hillmostly inland floodingModerate

Brightonmostly earthquakesModerate

Shipmanmostly earthquakesModerate

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