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Natural hazards · Ford Heights

Ford Heights, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ford Heights comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 73 claims here since 1979. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Ford Heights?

21
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ford Heights to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding53%Cold waves18%Tornadoes18%Heat waves5%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Ford Heights faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Heat waves

5% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Ford Heights flood?

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

73paid claims since 1979
$198Kpaid to owners
9homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 8 claims, $41K

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. Ford 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: Cook County.
Disasters that hit Ford Heights

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Ford HeightsDeclared for Cook County only
2024

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

110 households applied for aid $471K aid approved
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

248 households applied for aid $646K aid approved
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

119 households applied for aid $223K aid approved
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$5K to the Village of Ford Heights for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

142 households applied for aid $267K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

186 households applied for aid $318K aid approved $12K to the Village of Ford Heights for repairs
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$1K to the Village of Ford Heights for repairs
2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$5K to the Village of Ford Heights for repairs
1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$10K to the Village of Ford Heights for repairs
Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Ford Heights

Ford Heights and the towns around it

Sauk Village: High, mostly inland floodingLynwood: Very high, mostly inland floodingSteger: Low, mostly inland floodingLansing: High, mostly inland floodingGlenwood: Moderate, mostly inland floodingFord Heights: Low, mostly inland flooding Ford HeightsSauk VillageLynwood
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Lynwoodmostly inland floodingVery high
Sauk Villagemostly inland floodingHigh
Ford Heightsmostly inland floodingLow
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. Ford Heights 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 Ford Heights’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Ford Heights. 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.

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