Natural hazards · Colfax

Colfax, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Colfax comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1982. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Colfax?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Colfax to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding42%Cold waves24%Drought15%Tornadoes8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Colfax faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

24% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

15% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Colfax flood?

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

8paid claims since 1982

$111Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19822026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McLean County.

Disasters that hit Colfax

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ColfaxDeclared for McLean County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$8K to the Village of Colfax for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$24K to the Village of Colfax for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$8K to the Village of Colfax for repairs

McLean County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and ice 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. Colfax 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 Colfax’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Colfax. 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.