Natural hazards · Dowell

Dowell, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dowell comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1993. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dowell?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dowell to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes35%Inland flooding29%Cold waves12%Strong wind10%Heat waves6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Dowell faces

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

Earthquakes

35% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Dowell flood?

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

11paid claims since 1993

$40Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19932026

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. Dowell isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Jackson County.

Disasters that hit Dowell

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DowellDeclared for Jackson County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

Jackson County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe 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. Dowell 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 Dowell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Dowell. 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.