Perry County, Illinois: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 92 records.
- The costliest single record is Tornado in 2025: $1.5M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Winter Storm in 2008, with 2 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 7 disasters that named this county, most often for biological.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2021, with 2 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 7 disasters that named Perry County between 1982 and 2020.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Severe Storm | 2 | 2011 |
| Tornado | 2 | 2002 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4489 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3435 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-1991 2011 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms And Flooding
- EM-3230 2005 · Hurricane · Hurricane Katrina Evacuation
- DR-1416 2002 · Tornado · Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding
- DR-1112 1996 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms And Flooding
- DR-660 1982 · Tornado · Severe Storms & Tornadoes
Not counted above: 2 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Illinois. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 92 | 0 | 7 | $3.7M |
| Dense Fog | 91 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 74 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 70 | 0 | 0 | $91K |
| Strong Wind | 66 | 0 | 0 | $66K |
| Heat | 61 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Frost/Freeze | 55 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 40 | 0 | 0 | $415K |
| Winter Storm | 30 | 2 | 0 | $150K |
| Drought | 29 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Rain | 24 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 21 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 20 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flood | 20 | 0 | 1 | $292K |
| Heavy Snow | 14 | 0 | 0 | $10K |
| Tornado | 13 | 0 | 4 | $4.3M |
| High Wind | 7 | 0 | 0 | $201K |
| Funnel Cloud | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | 0 | $100K |
| Freezing Fog | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Perry County each year. The busiest year was 2011, with 40 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 14 | 0 | $347K |
| 1997 | 14 | 0 | $10K |
| 1998 | 17 | 0 | $50K |
| 1999 | 14 | 0 | $95K |
| 2000 | 13 | 0 | $26K |
| 2001 | 12 | 0 | $20K |
| 2002 | 15 | 0 | $40K |
| 2003 | 10 | 0 | $0 |
| 2004 | 21 | 0 | $291K |
| 2005 | 16 | 0 | $2K |
| 2006 | 31 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2007 | 29 | 0 | $10K |
| 2008 | 37 | 2 | $696K |
| 2009 | 28 | 0 | $1.5M |
| 2010 | 30 | 0 | $56K |
| 2011 | 40 | 0 | $1.7M |
| 2012 | 32 | 0 | $129K |
| 2013 | 27 | 0 | $86K |
| 2014 | 23 | 1 | $33K |
| 2015 | 26 | 0 | $181K |
| 2016 | 33 | 0 | $168K |
| 2017 | 22 | 0 | $296K |
| 2018 | 36 | 0 | $120K |
| 2019 | 25 | 0 | $7K |
| 2020 | 29 | 0 | $334K |
| 2021 | 24 | 0 | $38K |
| 2022 | 35 | 0 | $89K |
| 2023 | 24 | 0 | $33K |
| 2024 | 30 | 0 | $53K |
| 2025 | 29 | 0 | $1.6M |
| 2026 | 6 | 0 | $1K |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Tornado · Mar 14, 2025$1.5MNOAA name: PERRY · NOAA record 1242040
- Thunderstorm Wind · Jun 8, 2009$1.3MNOAA name: PERRY · 2 injuries · NOAA record 171901
- Tornado · Mar 11, 2006$1.2MNOAA name: PERRY · 2 injuries · NOAA record 5493798
- Thunderstorm Wind · Apr 19, 2011$1.0MNOAA name: PERRY · 2 injuries · NOAA record 289116
- Tornado · Jun 19, 2011$550KNOAA name: PERRY · 1 injury · NOAA record 314506
Deadliest records
- Winter Storm · Jan 31, 20082 deathsNOAA name: PERRY · NOAA record 70017
- Cold/Wind Chill · Jan 5, 20141 deathNOAA name: PERRY · NOAA record 488835
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $70K on 12 claims in Perry County from 1983 to 2022.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | $21K |
| 2008 | 2 | $13K |
| 1983 | 2 | $12K |
| 2022 | 1 | $6K |
| 2018 | 1 | $7K |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Perry County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 164 NCEI events over 31 years (5.29/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 84 NCEI events over 31 years (2.71/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 122 NCEI events over 31 years (3.94/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 161 NCEI events over 31 years (5.19/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 73 NCEI events over 31 years (2.35/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 2 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 13 NCEI events over 31 years (0.42/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 2 | 29 NCEI events over 31 years (0.94/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Perry County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Perry County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for Illinois yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: PERRY, Perry. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 0% of Illinois's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
Related
Responsible for Perry County?
This page is the record of what has happened. Calchis also watches live NWS, USGS and NHC feeds against the places you name and alerts you when an event approaches them.
Free includes Live map + 3 triggers + 10 bond positions. Analyst is $149/mo for 1,000-location portfolios, ep curves, predictions, parametric triggers.
Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.