Natural hazards · Litchfield

Litchfield, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Litchfield comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2002. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Litchfield?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Litchfield to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes27%Inland flooding26%Cold waves15%Tornadoes13%Heat waves8%Strong wind6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Litchfield faces

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

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Litchfield flood?

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

1paid claims since 2002

$20Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20022026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Montgomery County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Litchfield

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LitchfieldDeclared for Montgomery County only

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$16K to the City of Litchfield for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$43K to the City of Litchfield for repairs

Montgomery County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often tornadoes and severe storms.

Around Litchfield

Litchfield and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Zanesvillemostly inland floodingModerate

Litchfieldmostly earthquakesModerate

North Litchfieldmostly earthquakesModerate

South Litchfieldmostly inland floodingModerate

Butler Grovemostly inland floodingModerate

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. Litchfield covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Litchfield’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Litchfield. 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 Litchfield total about $1.8M 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.