Natural hazards · Frankfort

Frankfort, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Frankfort comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 17 claims here since 1980.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Frankfort?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Frankfort to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes34%Inland flooding26%Cold waves18%Tornadoes9%Heat waves6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Frankfort faces

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

Earthquakes

34% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 49 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

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 Frankfort flood?

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

17paid claims since 1980

$186Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19802026

Biggest named events

March storm: 3 claims, $75K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $3K
Early winter storms: 1 claim, $18K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Franklin County.

Disasters that hit Frankfort

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into FrankfortDeclared for Franklin County only

Franklin County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Frankfort

Frankfort and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Denningmostly earthquakesHigh

Frankfortmostly earthquakesHigh

Bentonmostly earthquakesHigh

Cavemostly earthquakesHigh

Hanafordmostly 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. Frankfort covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Frankfort’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Frankfort. 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 Frankfort total about $6.9M 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.