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Natural hazards · St. Charles

St. Charles, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Charles comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 89 claims here since 1978.

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

How exposed is St. Charles?

44
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Charles to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding60%Cold waves20%Tornadoes17%Everything else5%
By hazard

What St. Charles faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

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 St. Charles flood?

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

89paid claims since 1978
$1.7Mpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 13 claims, $366K
  • Mid-spring storms: 7 claims, $142K
  • Tropical Storm Erin: 1 claim, $38K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. St. Charles isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Kane County.
Disasters that hit St. Charles

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into St. CharlesDeclared for Kane County only
Kane County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and winter storms.
Around St. Charles

St. Charles and the towns around it

Campton: Low, mostly inland floodingSt. Charles: Low, mostly inland floodingElgin: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGeneva: Low, mostly inland floodingGeneva: Low, mostly inland floodingCampton Hills: Low, mostly inland floodingSouth Elgin: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWayne: Low, mostly inland floodingElgin: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWest Chicago: Very low, mostly inland floodingVirgil: Low, mostly inland floodingPlato: Low, mostly inland floodingBlackberry: Low, mostly inland floodingLily Lake: Low, mostly inland floodingWayne: Very low, mostly inland floodingDundee: Very low, mostly inland floodingHanover: Low, mostly cold wavesRutland: Low, mostly inland floodingBatavia: Very low, mostly inland floodingBatavia: Low, mostly inland floodingBartlett: Low, mostly inland floodingBloomingdale: Very low, mostly inland floodingCarol Stream: Low, mostly inland floodingWinfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWest Dundee: Very low, mostly inland floodingPingree Grove: Low, mostly inland floodingGilberts: Low, mostly inland floodingSleepy Hollow: Very low, mostly inland floodingSt. Charles: Moderate, mostly inland flooding St. CharlesCamptonSt. CharlesElginGenevaGenevaCampton HillsSouth ElginWayneElginWest Chicago
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
South Elginmostly inland floodingModerate
Elginmostly inland floodingModerate
Elginmostly inland floodingModerate
St. Charlesmostly inland floodingModerate
Campton Hillsmostly inland floodingLow
Camptonmostly inland floodingLow
Genevamostly inland floodingLow
St. Charlesmostly inland floodingLow
Waynemostly inland floodingLow
Genevamostly inland floodingLow
West Chicagomostly inland floodingVery low
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. St. Charles covers 11 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to St. Charles’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of St. Charles. 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 St. Charles total about $25.5M 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/15 · 2025-01-01
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