Natural hazards · Buffalo Prairie

Buffalo Prairie, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buffalo Prairie comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 41 claims here since 1986.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Buffalo Prairie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buffalo Prairie to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding37%Cold waves19%Tornadoes12%Drought11%Heat waves7%Strong wind6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Buffalo Prairie faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Buffalo Prairie flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Buffalo Prairie, from FEMA’s records.

41paid claims since 1986

$442Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19862026

Biggest named events

Midwest Flooding: 14 claims, $144K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $5K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rock Island County.

Disasters that hit Buffalo Prairie

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Rock Island County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Buffalo Prairie itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Buffalo PrairieDeclared for Rock Island County only

Rock Island County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Buffalo Prairie

Buffalo Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Duncanmostly inland floodingVery high

Buffalo Prairiemostly inland floodingHigh

Drurymostly inland floodingHigh

Edgingtonmostly inland floodingHigh

Andalusiamostly inland floodingHigh

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. Buffalo Prairie covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Buffalo Prairie total about $1.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.