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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 very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 69 claims here since 1985. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Lyons?

80
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lyons to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding58%Cold waves23%Tornadoes10%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

58% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

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

Tornadoes

10% 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 windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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.

69paid claims since 1985
$1.5Mpaid to owners
16homes flooded more than once
19852026

Biggest named events

  • Mid-spring storms: 16 claims, $391K
  • Hurricane Ike: 14 claims, $365K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (4) ■ flooded 2+ times

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

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LyonsDeclared for Cook County only
2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

20 households applied for aid $78K aid approved
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

51 households applied for aid $117K aid approved
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

50 households applied for aid $169K aid approved
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$16K to the Village of Lyons for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

95 households applied for aid $198K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $24K aid approved $25K to the Village of Lyons for repairs
2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$8K to the Village of Lyons for repairs
1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$14K to the Village 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

McCook: Low, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland floodingLyons: High, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland floodingBrookfield: High, mostly inland floodingSummit: High, mostly inland floodingForest View: High, mostly inland floodingStickney: High, mostly inland floodingHodgkins: Low, mostly inland floodingNorth Riverside: High, mostly inland floodingPalos: High, mostly inland floodingProviso: High, mostly inland floodingLa Grange: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLa Grange Park: High, mostly inland floodingChicago: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDowners Grove: Low, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingBedford Park: Low, mostly inland floodingStickney: Very high, mostly inland floodingCicero: High, mostly inland floodingBurbank: High, mostly inland floodingBridgeview: Moderate, mostly inland floodingOak Lawn: Very high, mostly inland floodingWorth: Very high, mostly inland floodingLyons: Very high, mostly inland flooding LyonsMcCookRiversideLyonsRiversideBrookfieldSummitForest ViewStickney
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Lyonsmostly inland floodingVery high
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Forest Viewmostly inland floodingHigh
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Stickneymostly inland floodingHigh
Lyonsmostly inland floodingHigh
Brookfieldmostly inland floodingHigh
Summitmostly inland floodingHigh
McCookmostly 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 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Lyons’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village 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 $6.3M 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/18 · 2025-01-01
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