Wabash County, Illinois: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wabash County, Illinois has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 24.8 out of 100, higher than about 24% of US counties, with earthquakes, drought and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $7.6 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 8 federal disaster declarations that included Wabash County since 1989, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4157-IL (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, declared 26 November 2013). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Wabash County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 11,347 Buildings worth $2.8 billion Area 230 sq mi Risk rank in Illinois 88 of 102 FIPS 17185
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 86.0 | $2.8 million | about once every 142 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 68.4 | $431,853 | about 4.5 a year | 119 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 54.5 | $418,281 | about 9.1 a year | 122 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 42.6 | $721 | about once every 8.3 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 40.8 | $42,283 | about 7.8 a year | 149 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 35.1 | $316,676 | about 4.1 a year | 156 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 29.7 | $28,298 | about once every 2.6 years | 26 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 29.1 | $440,997 | about once every 6.5 years | 19 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 25.8 | $2.7 million | about 4.2 a year | 117 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 25.6 | $304,937 | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Hail | Very Low | 22.3 | $72,826 | about 2.8 a year | 107 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 15.9 | $3,732 | about once every 174 years | 2 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 15.2 | $46,908 | about 52 a year | 46,053 strikes |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 0.4 | $173 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 8
Most common: Tornado 3, Severe Storm 3, Hurricane 1, Snowstorm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane, Snowstorm, Tornado |
| 2010s | 2 | Tornado, Severe Storm |
The last 8
Widest declarations that included Wabash County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3230-IL): 102 Illinois counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding (2002, DR-1416-IL): 68 Illinois counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (1996, DR-1112-IL): 28 Illinois counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Illinois also had 2 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 13
| Tornadoes touching the county | 13 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×3 |
| Peak month | May (4) |
| Deadliest | 11 Jul 1958, F2, 32.9 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 11 Jul 1958, F2, 32.9 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 17 Nov 2013, EF2, 10.3 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 2 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Wabash County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wabash County (this page) | — | Very Low | 24.8 | Earthquake |
| Edwards County | 19 km | Very Low | 26.1 | Drought |
| Gibson County, IN | 27 km | Relatively Low | 48.0 | Drought |
| Lawrence County | 32 km | Relatively Low | 49.2 | Drought |
| Richland County | 36 km | Relatively Low | 46.7 | Earthquake |
| Knox County, IN | 46 km | Relatively Low | 55.3 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Illinois, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 52.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 56.2 |
| Community risk factor | 1.15 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $7.6 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Wabash County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Illinois · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Drought: Drought monitor for Illinois
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Wabash County
What natural disasters is Wabash County, Illinois most at risk from?
Wabash County, Illinois has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 24.8 out of 100, higher than about 24% of US counties, with earthquakes, drought and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $7.6 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wabash County had?
OpenFEMA lists 8 federal disaster declarations that included Wabash County since 1989, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4157-IL (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes, declared 26 November 2013). Another 2 Illinois declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Wabash County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Wabash County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 11 Jul 1958, F2, 32.9 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.