Natural hazards · Hamel

Hamel, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hamel comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Hamel?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding37%Earthquakes18%Tornadoes16%Heat waves12%Cold waves11%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Hamel faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Heat waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 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 Hamel flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Madison County.

Disasters that hit Hamel

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HamelDeclared for Madison County only

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$4K to the Village of Hamel for repairs

Madison County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Hamel 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 Hamel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Hamel. 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.