How Likely Is a Tornado in Ford County, IL?
Ford County, IL: what NOAA's tornado record says
Ford County has recorded 39 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 1.9 years - our Elevated band. Put another way: Ford County sees more tornado activity than 79% of US counties. Illinois has 102 counties in this dataset; Ford County ranks 34 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
30 weak and 5 significant tornadoes make up Ford County's 39-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Ford 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
13,451 people live in Ford County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Illinois than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Ford County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 486 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. Ford County has about 13,451 residents.