Natural hazards · Riverside

Riverside, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Riverside comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 130 claims here since 1982. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Riverside?

72
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Riverside to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding64%Cold waves17%Tornadoes10%Everything else9%
By hazard

What Riverside faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Riverside flood?

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

130paid claims since 1982
$3.2Mpaid to owners
35homes flooded more than once
19822026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 42 claims, $1.2M
  • Mid-spring storms: 39 claims, $1.6M

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (3) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Riverside isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cook County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Riverside

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RiversideDeclared for Cook County only
2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

18 households applied for aid $56K aid approved
2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

98 households applied for aid $320K aid approved
2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

175 households applied for aid $370K aid approved
2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$22K to the Village of Riverside for repairs
2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

320 households applied for aid $881K aid approved
2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

85 households applied for aid $238K aid approved $60K to the Village of Riverside for repairs
2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$10K to the Village of Riverside for repairs
1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$19K to the Village of Riverside for repairs
Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Riverside

Riverside and the towns around it

Lyons: Very high, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland floodingNorth Riverside: High, mostly inland floodingLyons: High, mostly inland floodingBrookfield: High, mostly inland floodingMcCook: Low, mostly inland floodingSummit: High, mostly inland floodingForest View: High, mostly inland floodingStickney: High, mostly inland floodingProviso: High, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingBerwyn: High, mostly inland floodingForest Park: High, mostly inland floodingPalos: High, mostly inland floodingLa Grange: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLa Grange Park: High, mostly inland floodingChicago: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDowners Grove: Low, mostly inland floodingRiverside: High, mostly inland flooding RiversideLyonsRiversideNorth RiversideLyonsBrookfield
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Lyonsmostly inland floodingVery high
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
North Riversidemostly inland floodingHigh
Lyonsmostly inland floodingHigh
Brookfieldmostly inland floodingHigh
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. Riverside covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Riverside’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Riverside. 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 Riverside total about $7.4M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01