Natural hazards · Forest Lake

Forest Lake, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest Lake comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forest Lake?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forest Lake to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding56%Tornadoes20%Cold waves16%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Forest Lake faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Forest Lake flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lake County.

Disasters that hit Forest Lake

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Forest LakeDeclared for Lake County only

Lake County has had 15 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Forest Lake

Forest Lake and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Kildeermostly inland floodingLow

Forest Lakemostly inland floodingVery low

Hawthorn Woodsmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Forest Lake 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 Forest Lake’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Forest Lake. 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.