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Natural hazards · Wheeling

Wheeling, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wheeling comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 378 claims here since 1978.

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

How exposed is Wheeling?

53
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wheeling to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding49%Cold waves27%Tornadoes13%Heat waves7%Everything else3%
By hazard

What Wheeling faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Cold waves

27% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places
Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Heat waves

7% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Wheeling flood?

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

378paid claims since 1978
$4.3Mpaid to owners
0homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Ike: 33 claims, $604K
  • Mid-spring storms: 24 claims, $377K
of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Wheeling isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cook County.
Disasters that hit Wheeling

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into WheelingDeclared for Cook County only
Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Around Wheeling

Wheeling and the towns around it

Northfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPalatine: Low, mostly inland floodingVernon: Low, mostly inland floodingArlington Heights: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWheeling: High, mostly inland floodingPalatine: Low, mostly inland floodingRolling Meadows: Moderate, mostly inland floodingDes Plaines: Moderate, mostly inland floodingGlenview: High, mostly inland floodingNew Trier: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorthbrook: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMoraine: Low, mostly inland floodingGlencoe: Very low, mostly inland floodingWest Deerfield: High, mostly inland floodingBarrington: Very low, mostly inland floodingHoffman Estates: Very low, mostly cold wavesSchaumburg: Low, mostly inland floodingInverness: Low, mostly inland floodingEla: Low, mostly inland floodingBarrington: Very low, mostly inland floodingSouth Barrington: Very low, mostly inland floodingLibertyville: Low, mostly inland floodingProspect Heights: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMount Prospect: Moderate, mostly inland floodingBuffalo Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSchaumburg: Low, mostly inland floodingDeer Park: Low, mostly inland floodingMaine: Moderate, mostly inland floodingChicago: Moderate, mostly inland floodingRosemont: Low, mostly inland floodingElk Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingPark Ridge: Moderate, mostly inland floodingLeyden: Moderate, mostly inland floodingElk Grove Village: Very low, mostly inland floodingWilmette: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNorthfield: Moderate, mostly inland floodingNiles: Low, mostly inland floodingGolf: Very high, mostly inland floodingMorton Grove: Moderate, mostly inland floodingSkokie: Moderate, mostly inland floodingWheeling: Moderate, mostly inland flooding WheelingNorthfieldPalatineVernonArlington HeightsWheelingPalatineRolling MeadowsDes PlainesGlenview
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Wheelingmostly inland floodingHigh
Glenviewmostly inland floodingHigh
Des Plainesmostly inland floodingModerate
Wheelingmostly inland floodingModerate
Northfieldmostly inland floodingModerate
Rolling Meadowsmostly inland floodingModerate
Arlington Heightsmostly inland floodingModerate
Vernonmostly inland floodingLow
Palatinemostly inland floodingLow
Palatinemostly inland floodingLow
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. Wheeling covers 32 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wheeling’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Wheeling. 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 Wheeling total about $80.7M 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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