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Natural hazards · Union

Union, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Union 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 Union?

62
High
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Union to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding39%Earthquakes19%Drought14%Tornadoes10%Cold waves7%Everything else10%
By hazard

What Union faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

19% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Drought

14% of expected damage
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Union flood?

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

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

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into UnionDeclared for Effingham County only
Effingham County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often tornadoes and winter storms.
Around Union

Union and the towns around it

Watson: High, mostly inland floodingLucas: High, mostly inland floodingMason: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBlair: High, mostly inland floodingJackson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBishop: High, mostly inland floodingTeutopolis: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDouglas: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWatson: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSt. Francis: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorth Muddy: High, mostly inland floodingWest: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLarkinsburg: High, mostly inland floodingLouisville: High, mostly inland floodingBible Grove: High, mostly inland floodingOskaloosa: High, mostly inland floodingUnion: High, mostly inland flooding UnionWatsonLucasMasonBlair
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Blairmostly inland floodingHigh
Unionmostly inland floodingHigh
Watsonmostly inland floodingHigh
Lucasmostly inland floodingHigh
Masonmostly inland floodingModerate
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. Union 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 Union’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Union. 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.

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You’re in Union, ILEffingham CountyView boundary

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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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