Natural hazards · Harlem

Harlem, IL natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Harlem?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harlem to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes14%Cold waves10%Hail8%Strong wind5%Drought5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Harlem 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 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Harlem flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stephenson County.

Disasters that hit Harlem

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HarlemDeclared for Stephenson County only

Stephenson County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around Harlem

Harlem and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Freeportmostly inland floodingHigh

Harlemmostly inland floodingLow

Florencemostly inland floodingLow

Buckeyemostly inland floodingLow

Waddamsmostly inland floodingLow

Lancastermostly inland floodingLow

Erinmostly 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. Harlem 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 Harlem’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Harlem. 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.