Natural hazards · Chatham

Chatham, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chatham comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 25 claims here since 1979. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chatham?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chatham to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding52%Tornadoes15%Cold waves13%Heat waves7%Earthquakes6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Chatham faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 34 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Chatham flood?

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

25paid claims since 1979

$450Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sangamon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

18flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Chatham

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChathamDeclared for Sangamon County only

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3.9M to the Village of Chatham for repairs

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$36K to the Village of Chatham for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$26K to the Village of Chatham for repairs

2006

Tornadoes and Severe Storms

6 households applied for aid $700 aid approved

2002

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

$11K to the Village of Chatham for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$18K to the Village of Chatham for repairs

Sangamon County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Chatham

Chatham and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Chathammostly inland floodingModerate

Ballmostly inland floodingModerate

Springfieldmostly inland floodingModerate

Capitalmostly inland floodingModerate

Woodsidemostly inland floodingModerate

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