Natural hazards · Payson

Payson, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Payson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Payson?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Payson to be higher than in 49% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding25%Cold waves19%Heat waves14%Drought14%Strong wind11%Tornadoes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Payson faces

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

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Drought

14% of expected damage

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Payson flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Payson.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Adams County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Payson

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PaysonDeclared for Adams County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$7K to the Village of Payson for repairs

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2006

Snow

$4K to the Village of Payson for repairs

Adams County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe 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. Payson 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 Payson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Payson. 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.