Natural hazards · Mount Sterling

Mount Sterling, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mount Sterling comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mount Sterling?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mount Sterling to be higher than in 33% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and heat waves.

Cold waves36%Heat waves28%Inland flooding14%Tornadoes8%Strong wind7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Mount Sterling faces

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

Cold waves

36% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Mount Sterling flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Brown County.

Disasters that hit Mount Sterling

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mount SterlingDeclared for Brown County only

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $14K aid approved

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$10K to the City of Mount Sterling for repairs

2006

Snow

$4K to the City of Mount Sterling for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$4K to the City of Mount Sterling for repairs

Brown County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Mount Sterling covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mount Sterling’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Mount Sterling. 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 Mount Sterling total about $1.6M 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.