FEMA disaster declarations in Illinois

Federal major disaster, emergency and fire management declarations for Illinois since 1 Jan 2024, the counties and areas each one designates, and the requests FEMA turned down.

Updated FEMA data refreshed · read from OpenFEMA

Is Illinois a federal disaster area?

The most recent federal declaration for Illinois is DR-4819-IL, a major disaster declaration made on 20 Sep 2024 for Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng that began 13 Jul 2024, covering 7 designated areas.

FEMA has made no disaster declarations in Illinois so far in 2026. There were no major disaster declarations in Illinois in the last 12 months. 3 requests were turned down in 2026.

All declarations since 1 Jan 2024

1 declaration, newest first. Select a column heading to sort.

20 Sep 2024 DR-4819-IL Major disaster Flood
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng
13 Jul 2024 69 23 IH, HM Yes 19 Nov 2024
estimate · passed unless extended
Cook County, Fulton County, Henry County, St. Clair County, Washington County, Will County, Winnebago County

Requests FEMA turned down

Requests from Illinois for a major disaster or emergency declaration that were not approved, newest decision first. Requests still under review are not published.

7 Oct 2026 Major Disaster R5 IL - August 2026 Severe Weather and Flooding
Severe Storm
11 Aug 2026 15 Sep 2026 22 Turned down
10 Apr 2026 Major Disaster R5 IL - July 2025 - Severe Storms and Flooding
Severe Storm
25 Jul 2025 21 Aug 2025 232 Turned down
7 Feb 2026 Major Disaster R5 IL - August 2025 Severe Storms and Flooding
Severe Storm
16 Aug 2025 15 Sep 2025 145 Turned down

How to read these tables

  • Major disaster (DR) and emergency (EM) declarations are made by the President; fire management (FM) declarations are approved by FEMA.
  • Days to declaration counts from the first day of the incident period FEMA recorded to the declaration date. Days from request counts from the date of the governor's or tribal leader's request. Both are calculated here from FEMA's dates.
  • Designated areas are the counties, parishes, boroughs, tribal areas and other places FEMA lists for the declaration, including any added later. A designation may cover only some of the programs.
  • Programs: IH = Individuals and Households Program, IA = Individual Assistance, PA = Public Assistance, HM = Hazard Mitigation — included in at least one designated area.
  • Individual assistance is Yes when the declaration opens the Individuals and Households Program (help people register for) in at least one designated area.
  • Apply by (estimate) is FEMA's standard registration period for individual assistance after a major disaster: 60 days from the declaration date (44 CFR 206.112), calculated here. It is an estimate: FEMA often extends deadlines, and DisasterAssistance.gov has the official date. Emergency and fire management declarations have no date here. Open deadlines, soonest first.
  • Pending requests are not published in OpenFEMA. Only declarations that were made and requests that were turned down appear, so a request still under review is on neither list.

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2 and Declaration Denials - v1, retrieved 19 Oct 2026, 20:14 UTC from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries and https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v1/DeclarationDenials. 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).

Questions

Is there a FEMA disaster declaration for Illinois in 2026?

Not so far in 2026. The most recent federal declaration for Illinois is DR-4819-IL, a major disaster declaration made on 20 Sep 2024 for Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng that began 13 Jul 2024, covering 7 designated areas.

Which Illinois counties are federal disaster areas?

No Illinois county or area was named in a FEMA declaration in the last 12 months.

Has FEMA turned down a disaster request from Illinois?

OpenFEMA lists 3 turned-down requests from Illinois since 1 Jan 2024. The most recent was a major disaster request for R5 IL - August 2026 Severe Weather and Flooding, turned down on 7 Oct 2026. Requests still under review are not published.

How long do FEMA declarations take in Illinois?

Across 1 major disaster declaration for Illinois since 1 Jan 2024, the median time from the start of the incident to the declaration was 69 days.

What is the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance in Illinois?

No major disaster declaration for Illinois with individual assistance has an estimated deadline still open. For individual assistance after a major disaster, FEMA's standard registration period is 60 days from the date the President declares the disaster (44 CFR 206.112). FEMA often extends it, and the extension is announced for that disaster only. The "apply by" dates on this site are that standard 60 days counted from the declaration date, so they are estimates; the official deadline for each disaster is on DisasterAssistance.gov and on the disaster's page at fema.gov. You can apply at DisasterAssistance.gov, in the FEMA app, or by calling 800-621-3362.

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