Union 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 Dense Fog, with 109 records.
- The costliest single record is Tornado in 2002: $5.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Strong Wind in 2017, with 2 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 15 disasters that named this county, most often for flood.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1993, with 49 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 15 disasters that named Union County between 1969 and 2020.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | 5 | 2019 |
| Severe Storm | 5 | 2011 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Hurricane | 1 | 2005 |
| Snowstorm | 1 | 2004 |
| Tornado | 1 | 2002 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4489 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3435 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4461 2019 · Flood · Severe Storms And Flooding
- DR-1991 2011 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms And Flooding
- DR-1850 2009 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes
- DR-1826 2009 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- EM-3230 2005 · Hurricane · Hurricane Katrina Evacuation
- EM-3199 2004 · Snowstorm · Record/near Record Snow
- DR-1469 2003 · Severe Storm · Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
- DR-1416 2002 · Tornado · Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dense Fog | 109 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 91 | 2 | 0 | $106K |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 71 | 0 | 2 | $1.9M |
| Winter Weather | 66 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 62 | 1 | 16 | $0 |
| Frost/Freeze | 55 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flood | 43 | 0 | 0 | $3.3M |
| Hail | 35 | 0 | 0 | $50K |
| Drought | 33 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 30 | 1 | 1 | $1.3M |
| Excessive Heat | 26 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 26 | 2 | 0 | $643K |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 20 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 16 | 1 | 8 | $5.7M |
| Heavy Snow | 12 | 0 | 0 | $25K |
| Heavy Rain | 6 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 6 | 0 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Ice Storm | 5 | 0 | 0 | $160K |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Freezing Fog | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 2 | 0 | 0 | $21K |
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 Union County each year. The busiest year was 2018, with 38 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 11 | 0 | $55K |
| 1997 | 14 | 0 | $9K |
| 1998 | 18 | 0 | $38K |
| 1999 | 19 | 0 | $395K |
| 2000 | 12 | 0 | $50K |
| 2001 | 15 | 0 | $36K |
| 2002 | 17 | 2 | $5.0M |
| 2003 | 18 | 0 | $0 |
| 2004 | 13 | 1 | $104K |
| 2005 | 17 | 0 | $10K |
| 2006 | 25 | 0 | $147K |
| 2007 | 23 | 0 | $156K |
| 2008 | 27 | 0 | $3.5M |
| 2009 | 28 | 1 | $517K |
| 2010 | 26 | 0 | $6K |
| 2011 | 33 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2012 | 33 | 0 | $168K |
| 2013 | 15 | 0 | $266K |
| 2014 | 25 | 0 | $117K |
| 2015 | 30 | 0 | $79K |
| 2016 | 27 | 0 | $743K |
| 2017 | 25 | 2 | $112K |
| 2018 | 38 | 0 | $89K |
| 2019 | 30 | 1 | $598K |
| 2020 | 24 | 0 | $187K |
| 2021 | 24 | 0 | $7K |
| 2022 | 36 | 0 | $7K |
| 2023 | 26 | 0 | $114K |
| 2024 | 33 | 0 | $59K |
| 2025 | 27 | 0 | $253K |
| 2026 | 13 | 0 | $12K |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Tornado · Apr 28, 2002$5.0MNOAA name: UNION · 1 death · 8 injuries · NOAA record 5292486
- Flood · Mar 18, 2008$1.3MNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 84949
- Winter Storm · Feb 11, 2008$1.0MNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 77122
- High Wind · Sep 14, 2008$1.0MNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 125800
- Flood · Jan 1, 2016$700KNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 611001
Deadliest records
- Strong Wind · Nov 18, 20172 deathsNOAA name: UNION · $15K damage · NOAA record 724378
- Flash Flood · Jan 31, 20021 deathNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 5277369
- Tornado · Apr 28, 20021 deathNOAA name: UNION · $5.0M damage · 8 injuries · NOAA record 5292486
- Winter Storm · Dec 22, 20041 deathNOAA name: UNION · $100K damage · 1 injury · NOAA record 5428452
- Heat · Jun 22, 20091 deathNOAA name: UNION · NOAA record 174771
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 $447K on 114 claims in Union County from 1978 to 2020.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 49 | $15K |
| 2008 | 17 | $188K |
| 1979 | 10 | $13K |
| 2011 | 5 | $26K |
| 1997 | 4 | $20K |
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 Union 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 | 108 NCEI events over 31 years (3.48/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 75 NCEI events over 31 years (2.42/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 115 NCEI events over 31 years (3.71/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 167 NCEI events over 31 years (5.39/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 33 NCEI events over 31 years (1.06/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 97 NCEI events over 31 years (3.13/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 | 16 NCEI events over 31 years (0.52/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming 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 Union 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 Union 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: UNION, Union. 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.
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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.