Natural hazards · Cottonwood

Cottonwood, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cottonwood comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cottonwood?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cottonwood to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding49%Drought15%Earthquakes11%Cold waves8%Tornadoes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Cottonwood faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

15% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Cottonwood flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cumberland County.

Disasters that hit Cottonwood

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Cumberland County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Cottonwood itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into CottonwoodDeclared for Cumberland County only

Cumberland County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Cottonwood

Cottonwood and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pleasant Grovemostly inland floodingHigh

Janesvillemostly inland floodingHigh

Cottonwoodmostly inland floodingHigh

Sumptermostly inland floodingHigh

Neogamostly inland floodingHigh

Unionmostly 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. Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Cottonwood. 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.