Natural hazards · Cambridge

Cambridge, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cambridge comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Cambridge?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cambridge to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and strong winds.

Inland flooding33%Strong wind22%Tornadoes13%Drought12%Cold waves7%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Cambridge faces

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

Inland flooding

33% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

22% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 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 Cambridge flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Henry County.

Disasters that hit Cambridge

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CambridgeDeclared for Henry County only

2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

3 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

20 households applied for aid $28K aid approved

Henry County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

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