Natural hazards · Sims

Sims, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sims comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sims?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sims to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding36%Earthquakes22%Heat waves17%Tornadoes8%Cold waves7%Drought6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Sims faces

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

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

22% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

17% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Sims flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wayne County.

Disasters that hit Sims

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SimsDeclared for Wayne County only

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

3 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

Wayne County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often tornadoes and severe 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. Sims 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 Sims’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Sims. 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.