Natural hazards · Rolling Meadows

Rolling Meadows, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rolling Meadows comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 23 claims here since 1979. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rolling Meadows?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rolling Meadows to be higher than in 46% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding45%Cold waves30%Tornadoes14%Heat waves8%Everything else3%

By hazard

What Rolling Meadows faces

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

Inland flooding

45% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Rolling Meadows flood?

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

23paid claims since 1979

$738Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ike: 4 claims, $538K
Mid-spring storms: 1 claim, $4K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Rolling Meadows 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.

Disasters that hit Rolling Meadows

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Rolling Meadows itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Rolling Meadows.

Brought FEMA money into Rolling MeadowsDeclared for Cook County only

2024

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

4 households applied for aid

2023

Severe Storms and Flooding

12 households applied for aid $42K aid approved

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$42K to the City of Rolling Meadows for repairs

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

26 households applied for aid $64K aid approved $33K to the City of Rolling Meadows for repairs

2007

Severe Storms and Flooding

$56K to the City of Rolling Meadows for repairs

2000

Illinois Winter Snow Storms

$25K to the City of Rolling Meadows for repairs

1999

Il-Winter Storm 1/1/99

$32K to the City of Rolling Meadows for repairs

Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Rolling Meadows

Rolling Meadows and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wheelingmostly inland floodingModerate

Rolling Meadowsmostly inland floodingModerate

Arlington Heightsmostly inland floodingModerate

Palatinemostly inland floodingLow

Schaumburgmostly 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. Rolling Meadows covers 4 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Rolling Meadows’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rolling Meadows. 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 Rolling Meadows total about $10.2M 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.