Natural hazards · Ransom

Ransom, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ransom comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ransom?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ransom to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding70%Cold waves15%Tornadoes6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Ransom faces

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

Inland flooding

70% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Ransom flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: La Salle County.

Disasters that hit Ransom

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RansomDeclared for La Salle County only

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $11K aid approved

2006

Snow

$1K to the Village of Ransom for repairs

2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$2K to the Village of Ransom for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$3K to the Village of Ransom for repairs

La Salle County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter 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. Ransom 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 Ransom’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Ransom. 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.