Natural hazards · May

May, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in May comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 2008.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is May?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in May to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding53%Tornadoes17%Cold waves10%Strong wind9%Everything else12%

By hazard

What May faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 May flood?

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

8paid claims since 2008

$45Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ike: 1 claim, $7K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $10K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lee County.

Disasters that hit May

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into MayDeclared for Lee County only

Lee County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.

Around May

May and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Maymostly inland floodingModerate

Amboymostly inland floodingModerate

East Grovemostly inland floodingModerate

Sublettemostly inland floodingLow

La Moillemostly 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. May covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to May’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of May. 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 May total about $2.3M 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.