Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Illinois

Illinois has 1,311 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 102 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Calhoun County leads with 25 declarations, followed by Pike County and Cook County.

This ranking shows every county in Illinois ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

Illinois ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Calhoun County25Flood19692023
2Pike County25Flood19652023
3Cook County24Flood19672024
4Adams County21Flood19652020
5Cass County21Flood19732021
6Fulton County20Flood19732024
7Jersey County20Flood19692021
8LaSalle County20Flood19672020
9Monroe County20Flood19692023
10Greene County19Severe Storm19732020
11Hancock County19Flood19732023
12St. Clair County19Flood19682024
13Will County19Severe Storm19672024
14Winnebago County19Snowstorm19672024
15Mason County18Flood19682020
16Schuyler County18Flood19732020
17Scott County18Severe Storm19732023
18Alexander County17Severe Storm19692020
19Bureau County17Flood19732020
20Lake County17Snowstorm19652020
21Morgan County17Flood19732023
22Randolph County17Severe Storm19692020
23Brown County16Flood19732020
24Carroll County16Flood19652020
25DuPage County16Flood19672020
26Henderson County16Flood19652020
27Henry County16Flood19732024
28Jo Daviess County16Flood19652020
29Kane County16Flood19672020
30Madison County16Flood19692021
31McHenry County16Snowstorm19652020
32Grundy County15Flood19722020
33Jackson County15Flood19692020
34Mercer County15Flood19652020
35Peoria County15Flood19732020
36Rock Island County15Flood19652020
37Tazewell County15Flood19732020
38Union County15Flood19692020
39Marshall County14Snowstorm19742020
40Ogle County14Snowstorm19732020
41Pulaski County14Severe Storm19692020
42Stephenson County14Flood19692020
43Whiteside County14Flood19652020
44Woodford County14Flood19742020
45Douglas County13Severe Storm19902023
46Kendall County13Snowstorm19732020
47Champaign County12Tornado19682020
48DeKalb County12Flood19732020
49Logan County12Snowstorm19682023
50Massac County12Severe Storm19732020
51Menard County12Snowstorm19732021
52Pope County12Severe Storm19732020
53Sangamon County12Severe Storm19742023
54Vermilion County12Tornado19682023
55Boone County11Snowstorm19672020
56De Witt County11Snowstorm19682023
57Gallatin County11Severe Storm19732020
58Knox County11Flood19742020
59Livingston County11Snowstorm19742020
60Macon County11Biological19742023
61McDonough County11Snowstorm19992023
62McLean County11Snowstorm19682020
63Putnam County11Snowstorm19792020
64Clark County10Flood19742023
65Franklin County10Severe Storm19732020
66Hamilton County10Severe Storm19892020
67Lee County10Flood19732020
68Moultrie County10Snowstorm19902023
69Shelby County10Snowstorm19902021
70Wabash County10Severe Storm19892020
71White County10Severe Storm19832020
72Coles County9Biological19742023
73Crawford County9Biological19852020
74Cumberland County9Severe Storm19742023
75Edgar County9Biological19742023
76Iroquois County9Snowstorm19902020
77Jasper County9Severe Storm19902020
78Lawrence County9Severe Storm19962020
79Macoupin County9Severe Storm19822021
80Piatt County9Snowstorm19682020
81Saline County9Severe Storm19962020
82Warren County9Biological19932023
83Washington County9Biological20022024
84Williamson County9Severe Storm19822020
85Christian County8Snowstorm19992023
86Fayette County8Tornado20022021
87Ford County8Snowstorm19902020
88Hardin County8Severe Storm19972020
89Marion County8Severe Storm19902020
90Richland County8Biological19902020
91Stark County8Snowstorm19992020
92Wayne County8Tornado19892020
93Bond County7Biological20022021
94Clinton County7Biological19692020
95Edwards County7Biological19892020
96Effingham County7Biological19962021
97Johnson County7Biological19732020
98Kankakee County7Biological19732020
99Montgomery County7Biological20022021
100Perry County7Biological19822020
101Clay County5Biological20022020
102Jefferson County5Biological20022020