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Natural hazards · Lyons

Lyons, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Lyons comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 185 claims here since 1979. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Lyons?

63
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lyons to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding56%Cold waves23%Tornadoes12%Heat waves6%Everything else3%
By hazard

What Lyons faces

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

Inland flooding

56% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Lyons flood?

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

185paid claims since 1979
$2.9Mpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19792026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 20 claims, $444K
  • Mid-spring storms: 19 claims, $417K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Lyons isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cook County.
Disasters that hit Lyons

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LyonsDeclared for Cook County only
1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$6K to the Township of Lyons for repairs
Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Lyons

Lyons and the towns around it

Palos: High, mostly inland floodingProviso: High, mostly inland floodingStickney: High, mostly inland floodingLa Grange: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLa Grange Park: High, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland floodingLyons: Very high, mostly inland floodingSummit: High, mostly inland floodingChicago: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland floodingForest View: High, mostly inland floodingDowners Grove: Low, mostly inland floodingLemont: Low, mostly inland floodingOrland: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWorth: Very high, mostly inland floodingWillow Springs: High, mostly inland floodingPalos Park: Moderate, mostly inland floodingChicago Ridge: Very high, mostly inland floodingBridgeview: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRiver Forest: High, mostly inland floodingRiver Forest: High, mostly inland floodingYork: Low, mostly inland floodingMaywood: High, mostly inland floodingLeyden: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorth Riverside: High, mostly inland floodingMelrose Park: High, mostly inland floodingElmhurst: High, mostly inland floodingStickney: Very high, mostly inland floodingBedford Park: Low, mostly inland floodingCicero: High, mostly inland floodingBurbank: High, mostly inland floodingOak Lawn: Very high, mostly inland floodingCountryside: Very low, mostly inland floodingBrookfield: High, mostly inland floodingBroadview: High, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingMcCook: Low, mostly inland floodingMaine: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRosemont: Low, mostly inland floodingSchiller Park: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Moderate, mostly inland floodingCalumet: Very high, mostly inland floodingPark Ridge: Moderate, mostly inland floodingElk Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Low, mostly inland floodingDes Plaines: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLyons: High, mostly inland flooding LyonsPalosProvisoStickneyLa GrangeLa Grange ParkRiversideLyonsSummitChicagoRiversideForest ViewDowners Grove
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Lyonsmostly inland floodingVery high
La Grange Parkmostly inland floodingHigh
Palosmostly inland floodingHigh
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Forest Viewmostly inland floodingHigh
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Provisomostly inland floodingHigh
Stickneymostly inland floodingHigh
Lyonsmostly inland floodingHigh
Summitmostly inland floodingHigh
Chicagomostly inland floodingModerate
La Grangemostly inland floodingModerate
Downers Grovemostly inland floodingLow
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. Lyons covers 25 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lyons’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Lyons. 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 Lyons total about $68.8M 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.

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Illinois · IL · Cook County
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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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