Pinckneyville’s biggest natural hazard is earthquakes
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pinckneyville comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1983. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Pinckneyville’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Pinckneyville flood? Rarely: 2 flood claims since 1983
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Pinckneyville, from FEMA’s records.
Pinckneyville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Perry County.How exposed is Pinckneyville?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and cold waves.
Rated higher than 2,201 of the 2,886 Illinois towns we cover.
Pinckneyville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Pinckneyville faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
Cold waves
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Heat waves
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Pinckneyville
Disasters that paid out in Pinckneyville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Pinckneyville) and its biggest flood years.
- 2011Severe Storms and Flooding18 households applied for aid$102K aid approved
Perry County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.
Old photos of Pinckneyville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Pinckneyville archive →Get ready for what Pinckneyville actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Pinckneyville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pinckneyville.
- 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 Pinckneyville.
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.