Natural hazards · Fairview Heights

Fairview Heights, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fairview Heights comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fairview Heights?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fairview Heights to be higher than in 56% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes45%Inland flooding20%Heat waves10%Cold waves10%Tornadoes9%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Fairview Heights faces

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

Earthquakes

45% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

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 Fairview Heights flood?

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

4paid claims since 1979

$14Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Clair County.

Disasters that hit Fairview Heights

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Fairview Heights itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Fairview Heights.

Brought FEMA money into Fairview HeightsDeclared for St. Clair County only

2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

303 households applied for aid $1.0M aid approved

2022

Severe Storm and Flooding

290 households applied for aid $507K aid approved

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$86K to the City of Fairview Heights for repairs

St. Clair County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Fairview Heights

Fairview Heights and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

East St. Louismostly inland floodingVery high

Canteenmostly inland floodingVery high

Bellevillemostly earthquakesHigh

Caseyvillemostly inland floodingHigh

St. Clairmostly inland floodingHigh

Swanseamostly inland floodingHigh

Caseyvillemostly earthquakesHigh

O'Fallonmostly inland floodingModerate

Fairview Heightsmostly 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. Fairview Heights covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fairview Heights’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Fairview Heights. 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 Fairview Heights total about $7.1M 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.