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 moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Union?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Union to be higher than in 41% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding63%Tornadoes16%Cold waves14%Everything else7%

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

63% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 22 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

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 Union flood?

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

8paid claims since 1978

$31Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

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: McHenry County.

Disasters that hit Union

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into UnionDeclared for McHenry County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

$2K to the Village of Union for repairs

2008

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

$2K to the Village of Union for repairs

2006

Snow

$2K to the Village of Union for repairs

McHenry County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and floods.

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 Village 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.

Union, IL natural hazards

How exposed is Union?

What Union faces

Inland flooding

Tornadoes

Cold waves

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Union flood?

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm

Record Snow and Near Record Snow

Snow

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

Nearby