Natural hazards · Pawnee

Pawnee, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pawnee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 38 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pawnee?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pawnee to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding45%Tornadoes14%Earthquakes14%Cold waves10%Heat waves5%Drought5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Pawnee faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Earthquakes

14% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Drought

5% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Pawnee flood?

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

38paid claims since 1978

$552Kpaid to owners

3homes flooded more than once

19782026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (2) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sangamon County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

6flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Pawnee

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PawneeDeclared for Sangamon County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$3K to the Village of Pawnee for repairs

2006

Severe Winter Storm

$18K to the Village of Pawnee for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$3K to the Village of Pawnee for repairs

Sangamon County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter 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. Pawnee is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pawnee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Pawnee. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.