Natural hazards · Maxwell

Maxwell, IL natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Maxwell to be higher than in 38% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding30%Drought21%Earthquakes16%Tornadoes13%Cold waves9%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Maxwell faces

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

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 32% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

21% of expected damage

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Maxwell flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sangamon County.

Disasters that hit Maxwell

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MaxwellDeclared for Sangamon County only

Sangamon County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Maxwell

Maxwell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maxwellmostly inland floodingLow

New Berlinmostly inland floodingLow

Loamimostly 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. Maxwell 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 Maxwell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Maxwell. 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.