Palmer’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Palmer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Palmer’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Palmer flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Palmer. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Palmer isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Christian County.How exposed is Palmer?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.
Calmer than 1,973 of the 2,886 Illinois towns we cover.
Palmer is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Palmer faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Earthquakes
Cold waves
Drought
Tornadoes
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Palmer
Disasters that paid out in Palmer itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Village of Palmer) and its biggest flood years.
- 2006Severe Winter Storm$3K to the Village of Palmer for repairs
Christian County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.
Old photos of Palmer after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Palmer archive →Get ready for what Palmer actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Palmer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Palmer.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Palmer.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.