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Natural hazards · Niles

Niles, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Niles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 313 claims here since 1978.

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

How exposed is Niles?

47
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Niles to be higher than in 47% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves27%Tornadoes14%Heat waves7%Everything else4%
By hazard

What Niles faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Heat waves

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Niles flood?

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

313paid claims since 1978
$2.0Mpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Mid-spring storms: 23 claims, $421K
  • Hurricane Ike: 17 claims, $252K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Niles isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cook County.
Disasters that hit Niles

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into NilesDeclared for Cook County only
Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Niles

Niles and the towns around it

Chicago: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSkokie: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Low, mostly inland floodingEvanston: Low, mostly inland floodingNew Trier: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorthfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLincolnwood: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWilmette: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMaine: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLeyden: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRosemont: Low, mostly inland floodingWorth: Very high, mostly inland floodingSchiller Park: Moderate, mostly inland floodingStickney: High, mostly inland floodingCalumet: Very high, mostly inland floodingPark Ridge: Moderate, mostly inland floodingElk Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDes Plaines: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMorton Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGlenview: High, mostly inland floodingWinnetka: Low, mostly inland floodingGlencoe: Very low, mostly inland floodingKenilworth: Very low, mostly inland floodingHighland Park: Low, mostly inland floodingMoraine: Low, mostly inland floodingNorthbrook: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWheeling: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWheeling: High, mostly inland floodingWest Deerfield: High, mostly inland floodingNorthfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Moderate, mostly inland flooding NilesChicagoSkokieNilesEvanstonNew TrierNorthfieldLincolnwoodWilmetteMaine
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Wilmettemostly inland floodingModerate
Northfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
New Triermostly inland floodingModerate
Mainemostly inland floodingModerate
Nilesmostly inland floodingModerate
Chicagomostly inland floodingModerate
Lincolnwoodmostly inland floodingModerate
Skokiemostly inland floodingModerate
Nilesmostly inland floodingLow
Evanstonmostly 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. Niles covers 23 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Niles’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Niles. 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 Niles total about $56.9M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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