Natural hazards · Reading

Reading, IL natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Reading?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Reading to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding61%Cold waves18%Strong wind5%Tornadoes5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Reading faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Reading flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Livingston County.

Disasters that hit Reading

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ReadingDeclared for Livingston County only

Livingston County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

Around Reading

Reading and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Long Pointmostly inland floodingHigh

Readingmostly inland floodingHigh

Newtownmostly inland floodingHigh

Eaglemostly inland floodingModerate

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