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Natural hazards · Coal

Coal, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Coal comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1979. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Coal?

21
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Coal to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves57%Inland flooding23%Tornadoes13%Everything else8%
By hazard

What Coal faces

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

Cold waves

57% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 55 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Coal flood?

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

5paid claims since 1979
$63Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 1 claim, $33K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Coal isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Grundy County.
Disasters that hit Coal

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CoalDeclared for Grundy County only
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

16 households applied for aid
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $26K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

21 households applied for aid $76K aid approved
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

19 households applied for aid $81K aid approved
Grundy County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around Coal

Coal and the towns around it

Diamond: Low, mostly cold wavesBraidwood: Very low, mostly inland floodingCarbon Hill: High, mostly inland floodingBraceville: High, mostly inland floodingReed: Very low, mostly inland floodingCoal City: Low, mostly cold waves Coal CityDiamondBraidwoodCarbon Hill
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Carbon Hillmostly inland floodingHigh
Coal Citymostly cold wavesLow
Diamondmostly cold wavesLow
Braidwoodmostly inland floodingVery low
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. Coal 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 Coal’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Coal. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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