Natural hazards · Watson

Watson, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Watson?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watson to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding35%Earthquakes20%Tornadoes12%Drought11%Cold waves9%Heat waves5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Watson faces

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

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 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 Watson flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Watson 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 Watson

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatsonDeclared for Effingham County only

Effingham County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often tornadoes and winter storms.

Around Watson

Watson and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Watsonmostly inland floodingHigh

Watsonmostly inland floodingModerate

Jacksonmostly 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. Watson 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 Watson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Watson. 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.