Natural hazards · Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Grand Rapids comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Grand Rapids?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding70%Cold waves15%Tornadoes6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Grand Rapids faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years 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 Grand Rapids flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Grand Rapids.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: La Salle County.

Disasters that hit Grand Rapids

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Grand Rapids itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Township of Grand Rapids.

Brought FEMA money into Grand RapidsDeclared for La Salle County only

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$3K to the Township of Grand Rapids for repairs

La Salle County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Grand Rapidsmostly inland floodingHigh

Brookfieldmostly inland floodingHigh

Otter Creekmostly inland floodingLow

Fall Rivermostly inland floodingLow

Farm Ridgemostly 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. Grand Rapids 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 Grand Rapids’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Grand Rapids. 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.