Natural hazards · Prairie

Prairie, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Prairie comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Prairie?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding37%Earthquakes18%Drought16%Tornadoes8%Cold waves7%Strong wind6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Prairie faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

18% of expected damage

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

Drought

16% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Prairie flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Edgar County.

Disasters that hit Prairie

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Edgar County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Prairie itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into PrairieDeclared for Edgar County only

Edgar County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

Around Prairie

Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairiemostly inland floodingModerate

Brouilletts Creekmostly inland floodingModerate

Rossmostly inland floodingModerate

Edgarmostly inland floodingModerate

Heltmostly inland floodingModerate

Vermillionmostly inland floodingLow

Elwoodmostly inland floodingLow

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. Prairie 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 Prairie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Prairie. 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.