Natural hazards · New Athens

New Athens, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in New Athens comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1993.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is New Athens?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in New Athens to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding39%Earthquakes31%Cold waves9%Heat waves9%Tornadoes7%Everything else6%

By hazard

What New Athens faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

31% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 New Athens flood?

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

11paid claims since 1993

$301Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19932026

Biggest named events

Early winter storms: 4 claims, $141K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $5K
Midwest Flooding: 1 claim, $9K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Clair County.

Disasters that hit New Athens

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for St. Clair County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching New Athens itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into New AthensDeclared for St. Clair County only

St. Clair County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around New Athens

New Athens and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Lenzburgmostly inland floodingHigh

Fayettevillemostly inland floodingHigh

New Athensmostly inland floodingHigh

Prairie Du Longmostly inland floodingHigh

New Athensmostly inland floodingHigh

Freeburgmostly inland floodingHigh

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. New Athens covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to New Athens’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of New Athens. 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 New Athens total about $3.5M 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.