Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Stickney

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Stickney · FEMA

More hazard damage per building is expected in Stickney than in 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Stickney gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, #729 of 768 in Illinois. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%). Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2025.

River and rain flooding 93%Tornadoes 5%Earthquakes 2%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 88%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade#729 of 768 in Illinois
Hazard risk
D#729 of 768
in Illinois · higher than 88% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
93% of expected building damage
Flood claims
1
paid since 2025 · $2K
Disasters paid out here
9
of 21 declared for Cook County
By hazard

What Stickney faces

Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.

River and rain flooding

93%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 6 times a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Earthquakes Hail Strong wind Winter storms Ice storms Hurricanes Wildfire Cold waves Heat waves Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 20% of Stickney’s expected losses. Cold waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Stickney’s grade

River and rain flooding is 93% of the building damage FEMA expects in Stickney, and Stickney’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Stickney sits
Stickney
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D #729 of 768 in Illinois; higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Stickney’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding93%Tornadoes5%Everything else3%

The typical Illinois town has higher expected damage than 54% of U.S. towns; within the state, Stickney has more expected damage per building than 95% of Illinois towns.

In dollars, FEMA expects about $4.7M a year in losses across Stickney: $3.1M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Stickney’s 7,110 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Stickney flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 2025

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Stickney, from FEMA’s records: 0.4 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 93% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2025: 1 claim2026: 0 claims2025
20252026
1
paid claims since 2025
$2K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$2K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Stickney isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Cook County.
Disasters

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Stickney

Disasters that paid out in Stickney itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Village of Stickney), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2024Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Floodng15 households applied for aid$47K aid approved
  2. 2023Severe Storms and Flooding5 households applied for aid$11K aid approved
  3. 2023Severe Storms and Flooding156 households applied for aid$419K aid approved
  4. 2013Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding31 households applied for aid$51K aid approved
  5. 2011Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$36K to the Village of Stickney for repairs
  6. 2010Severe Storms and Flooding141 households applied for aid$307K aid approved
Show all 9
  1. 2008Severe Storms and Flooding1 households applied for aid$6K aid approved
  2. 2000Illinois Winter Snow Storms$5K to the Village of Stickney for repairs
  3. 1999Il-winter Storm 1/1/99$9K to the Village of Stickney for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in StickneyCook County only

Cook County has had 21 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Were you here?

Old photos of Stickney after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Stickney archive →
Next door

Stickney and its neighbors

Stickney is 4th of the 4 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Stickney Township: hazard risk CChicago: hazard risk B−Forest View: not gradedCicero: hazard risk C−Stickney TownshipChicagoForest ViewCiceroStickney
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
ChicagoB−more damage than 51%river and rain flooding550
Stickney TownshipCmore damage than 71%river and rain flooding30
CiceroC−more damage than 84%river and rain flooding13
StickneyDmore damage than 88%river and rain flooding1
Forest View—not graded yet

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Stickney faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Stickney

Is Stickney at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Stickney has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #729 of 768 in Illinois. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (93%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Stickney flood?

Flood insurance has paid 1 claim in Stickney since 2025, $2K in all, or 0.4 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 93% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Stickney in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Cook County, 32% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Stickney?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Stickney’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

What was the biggest storm in Stickney?

By FEMA money that reached Stickney, Severe Storms and Flooding (2023): 156 households applied for aid, $419K approved.

Is Stickney at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (93%), and Stickney’s rate for it is in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Stickney.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Stickney’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.