Natural hazards · Dorchester

Dorchester, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dorchester comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dorchester?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dorchester to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes37%Inland flooding25%Cold waves11%Tornadoes8%Heat waves7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Dorchester faces

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

Earthquakes

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

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 Dorchester flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Macoupin County.

Disasters that hit Dorchester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DorchesterDeclared for Macoupin County only

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$983 to the Village of Dorchester for repairs

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

Around Dorchester

Dorchester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Dorchestermostly earthquakesModerate

Gillespiemostly earthquakesModerate

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