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 very high 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 Prairie?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie to be higher than in 86% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding39%Cold waves15%Drought13%Heat waves12%Strong wind7%Tornadoes6%Everything else9%

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

39% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 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 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: Hancock County.

Disasters that hit Prairie

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PrairieDeclared for Hancock County only

2006

Snow

$3K to the Township of Prairie for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$3K to the Township of Prairie for repairs

Hancock County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Prairie

Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairiemostly inland floodingVery high

Rock Creekmostly inland floodingVery high

Pilot Grovemostly inland floodingHigh

Montebellomostly inland floodingHigh

Bear Creekmostly cold wavesModerate

Carthagemostly inland floodingModerate

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.