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Natural hazards · Mendota

Mendota, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mendota comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 36 claims here since 1978. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Mendota?

14
Very low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mendota to be higher than in 14% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves30%Tornadoes11%Everything else14%
By hazard

What Mendota faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage
Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places
Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 72 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Mendota flood?

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

36paid claims since 1978
$141Kpaid to owners
3homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 6 claims, $28K
  • Mid-spring storms: 2 claims, $7K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Mendota isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: La Salle County.
Disasters that hit Mendota

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MendotaDeclared for La Salle County only
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

31 households applied for aid $62K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

53 households applied for aid $106K aid approved
2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $8K aid approved
2006

Snow

$8K to the City of Mendota for repairs
2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$6K to the City of Mendota for repairs
1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$8K to the City of Mendota for repairs
La Salle County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around Mendota

Mendota and the towns around it

Mendota: Very low, mostly inland floodingMeriden: Low, mostly inland floodingTroy Grove: Very low, mostly inland floodingClarion: Low, mostly inland floodingBrooklyn: Low, mostly inland floodingEarl: Low, mostly inland floodingOphir: Low, mostly inland floodingWyoming: Low, mostly inland floodingMendota: Very low, mostly inland flooding MendotaMendotaMeriden
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Meridenmostly inland floodingLow
Mendotamostly inland floodingVery low
Mendotamostly inland floodingVery low
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. Mendota 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 Mendota’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mendota. 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.

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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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