Natural hazards · Lawrence

Lawrence, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lawrence 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 Lawrence?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lawrence to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves21%Tornadoes20%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Lawrence faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 49 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 Lawrence flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McHenry County.

Disasters that hit Lawrence

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into LawrenceDeclared for McHenry County only

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

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