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 high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 15 claims here since 2005.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Prairie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Prairie to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding56%Earthquakes13%Drought10%Tornadoes7%Everything else14%

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

56% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat 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 Prairie flood?

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

15paid claims since 2005

$407Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20052026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 6 claims, $64K
March storm: 1 claim, $5K

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: Crawford County.

Disasters that hit Prairie

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PrairieDeclared for Crawford County only

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

Around Prairie

Prairie and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Prairiemostly inland floodingHigh

Hutsonvillemostly inland floodingHigh

Lickingmostly inland floodingHigh

Robinsonmostly inland floodingHigh

Melrosemostly 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 covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Prairie’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); 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.

FEMA’s expected losses across Prairie total about $2.4M 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.