Hazards

The State of Illinois Emergency Management Agency Hazard Ratings for Sangamon County

These ratings factor in probability of the hazard occurring, percentage of population exposed to the hazard, severity of past impacts, current population and population growth. Overall, Sangamon County rated as having a medium population with low future growth. Available weather data from 1950 – 2003 was used as the basis for these ratings. The State's 2004 Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan is available as a PDF here (be aware that it is a large file-48MB, however).

	Hazard	Rating	Description
	Drought	Guarded	The County experienced no droughts. This meant it had low probability, low vulnerability, and low severity.
	Earthquake	Elevated	The County has no recent earthquake activity, but is within an area of slight earthquake possibilities. However, it was rated highly vulnerable.
	Floods	High	The County experienced 20 floods, with 3 deaths, 1 injury, and $100 million dollars in damages. This gives it ratings of medium probability, low vulnerability (small proportion of the population affected), and high severity (amount of damage).
	Floods	High	The County has no recent earthquake activity, but is within an area of slight earthquake possibilities. However, it was rated highly vulnerable.
	Extreme Heat	High	The County experienced 4 episodes of extreme heat, causing 8 deaths. This gave it low probability (since extreme heat is rare), medium vulnerability (due to the proportion of the county likely exposed to extreme conditions), and high severity (due to the number of deaths).
	Tornadoes	High	The County experienced 52 tornadoes, with 3 deaths, 56 injuries, and almost $8 million dollars in damage. This gave it ratings of medium probability, low vulnerability, and medium severity.
	Severe Storms	Severe	The County experienced 223 storm events (thunderstorms, lightning, and hail), causing 1 death, 80 injuries, and $10 million property damage. This gave it high probability, high vulnerability, and medium severity.
	Severe Winter Storms	Severe	The County experienced 18 severe winter storms, causing 11 deaths, 39 injuries, giving it a rating of medium probability, high vulnerability, and high severity.