How Likely Is a Tornado in Bond County, IL?
Bond County, IL: what NOAA's tornado record says
Bond County has recorded 24 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 3.2 years - our Moderate band. Put another way: Bond County sees more tornado activity than 58% of US counties. Among 102 Illinois counties in this dataset, Bond County ranks 61 for how often a tornado touches down.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
17 weak and 7 significant tornadoes make up Bond County's 24-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Bond County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. Illinois has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for Illinois this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
The storm that misses Bond County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Illinois are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Bond County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 380 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Bond County has about 16,576 residents.