Natural hazards · Paris

Paris, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Paris comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2008. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Paris?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Paris to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding29%Earthquakes23%Tornadoes13%Cold waves12%Strong wind10%Heat waves7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Paris faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

23% of expected damage

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

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 76 years in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Paris flood?

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

1paid claims since 2008

$5Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Edgar County.

Disasters that hit Paris

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ParisDeclared for Edgar County only

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

135 households applied for aid $304K aid approved

Edgar County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Paris

Paris and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Buckmostly inland floodingModerate

Edgarmostly inland floodingModerate

Huntermostly inland floodingModerate

Parismostly inland floodingLow

Symmesmostly inland floodingLow

Strattonmostly inland floodingLow

Elbridgemostly 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. Paris covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Paris’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Paris. 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 Paris total about $4.5M 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.