Natural hazards · Wamac

Wamac, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wamac comes from earthquakes, 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 Wamac?

High

vs. U.S. communities

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

Earthquakes33%Inland flooding23%Heat waves17%Cold waves8%Strong wind6%Tornadoes5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Wamac faces

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

Earthquakes

33% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

17% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Wamac flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Wamac

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WamacDeclared for Washington County only

Washington County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

Around Wamac

Wamac and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Wamacmostly earthquakesHigh

Irvingtonmostly earthquakesHigh

Brooksidemostly inland floodingHigh

Centraliamostly earthquakesHigh

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. Wamac 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 Wamac’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wamac. 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.