Natural hazards · Pella

Pella, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pella comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2019. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pella?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pella to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding66%Cold waves14%Tornadoes8%Strong wind5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Pella faces

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

Inland flooding

66% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Pella flood?

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

2paid claims since 2019

$4Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20192026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Ford County.

Disasters that hit Pella

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PellaDeclared for Ford County only

2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$2K to the Township of Pella for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$849 to the Township of Pella for repairs

Ford County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and hurricanes.

Around Pella

Pella and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pellamostly inland floodingHigh

Monamostly inland floodingHigh

Brentonmostly inland floodingHigh

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. Pella covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pella’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Pella. 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 Pella total about $1.8M 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.