Natural hazards · Melvin

Melvin, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Melvin comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Melvin?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Melvin to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding49%Cold waves18%Tornadoes11%Drought7%Strong wind6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Melvin faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Drought

7% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Melvin flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ford County.

Disasters that hit Melvin

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MelvinDeclared for Ford County only

2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$759 to the Village of Melvin for repairs

Ford County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

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. Melvin 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 Melvin’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Melvin. 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.