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Natural hazards · Harter

Harter, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Harter comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2015.

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

How exposed is Harter?

58
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Harter to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes32%Inland flooding31%Tornadoes9%Cold waves6%Drought6%Strong wind6%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Harter faces

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

Earthquakes

32% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 29 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Harter flood?

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

3paid claims since 2015
$29Kpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
20152026
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Harter isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Clay County.
Disasters that hit Harter

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HarterDeclared for Clay County only
Clay County has had 3 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.
Around Harter

Harter and the towns around it

Songer: High, mostly inland floodingLouisville: High, mostly inland floodingStanford: High, mostly inland floodingKeith: High, mostly inland floodingXenia: High, mostly inland floodingOmega: Moderate, mostly earthquakesOskaloosa: High, mostly inland floodingIuka: High, mostly earthquakesBlair: High, mostly inland floodingHoosier: High, mostly inland floodingClay City: High, mostly inland floodingPixley: High, mostly inland floodingIndian Prairie: High, mostly inland floodingZif: High, mostly inland floodingBedford: High, mostly inland floodingGarden Hill: High, mostly inland floodingHarter: Moderate, mostly earthquakes HarterSongerLouisvilleStanfordKeithXenia
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Keithmostly inland floodingHigh
Songermostly inland floodingHigh
Louisvillemostly inland floodingHigh
Stanfordmostly inland floodingHigh
Xeniamostly inland floodingHigh
Hartermostly earthquakesModerate
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. Harter covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Harter’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Harter. 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 Harter total about $6.0M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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