Natural hazards · Joy

Joy, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Joy comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Joy?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Joy to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding38%Drought17%Strong wind15%Cold waves10%Heat waves5%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Joy faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Strong wind

15% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Joy flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Mercer County.

Disasters that hit Joy

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into JoyDeclared for Mercer County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$937 to the Village of Joy for repairs

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$6K to the Village of Joy for repairs

Mercer County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter 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. Joy 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 Joy’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Joy. 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.