Natural hazards · Potomac

Potomac, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Potomac comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Potomac?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Potomac to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves17%Drought9%Tornadoes8%Earthquakes6%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Potomac faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

9% of expected damage

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Potomac flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Vermilion County.

Disasters that hit Potomac

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PotomacDeclared for Vermilion County only

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

3 households applied for aid

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$2K to the Village of Potomac for repairs

Vermilion County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often tornadoes 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. Potomac 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 Potomac’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Potomac. 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.