Chapter Hazard Analysis

2.7.Conclusions

This chapter provides information on the five natural hazards that have the greatest impact on Kane County: floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, thunderstorms and winter/ice storms. Data on the hazards are provided in terms of severity, frequency and historical occurrences.

The impacts of these hazards are reviewed under four categories: impact on people (e.g., safety and health), damage to buildings, damage to critical facilities, and economic disruption (damage to businesses and infrastructure).

While it is hard to compare different natural phenomena, a general summary can show how they impact the County. This is done in the table on the next page, “Impact of the Hazards.”

Frequency: The annual chance column in the table shows the likelihood of occurrence in any given year. These numbers are discussed in the “Frequency” section of each hazard.

Location: The location and area affected by a single occurrence is shown.

Safety: The safety hazard rating for thunderstorms and winter/ice storms is relatively high because each has killed 20 people in Illinois since 1995. Floods have resulted in 11 deaths and tornadoes 4 during the same time period. There have been no killer earthquakes in Illinois since 1995 and the 1% chance quake is only expected to cause minor damage to buildings.