Natural hazards · Chicago

Chicago, ND natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chicago comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chicago?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chicago to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves42%Inland flooding18%Hail13%Tornadoes8%Strong wind6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Chicago faces

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

Cold waves

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 10% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Chicago flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stutsman County.

Disasters that hit Chicago

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChicagoDeclared for Stutsman County only

Stutsman County has had 28 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Chicago

Chicago and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Chicagomostly cold wavesLow

Bloomenfieldmostly cold wavesLow

St. Paulmostly cold wavesLow

Stirtonmostly cold wavesLow

Medinamostly cold wavesLow

Flintmostly cold wavesLow

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