Natural hazards · Elk

Elk, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elk comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 12 claims here since 1993.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Elk?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elk 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 Elk 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 Elk flood?

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

12paid claims since 1993

$54Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19932026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $11K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Elk 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 Elk

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElkDeclared for Jackson County only

Jackson County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Elk

Elk and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elkmostly earthquakesVery high

De Sotomostly earthquakesVery high

Vergennesmostly earthquakesHigh

Six Milemostly earthquakesHigh

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. Elk covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Elk’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Elk. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Elk total about $3.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.