Illinois Severe Weather: Responding Today, Preparing for Tomorrow
By Sara Freitag, Vice President, Agency
Through July, State Farm customers in Illinois filed more home and auto catastrophe claims than customers in any other state, putting Illinois on pace for its highest catastrophe claim volume in a decade.
For me, those numbers are personal. Illinois has always been home. I grew up here, went to Illinois State University and spent several years serving customers as a State Farm agent in Springfield. My husband is also a State Farm agent, and today I work with agents serving customers and communities across the state.
I've seen plenty of Illinois severe weather over the years. But earlier this year, I saw storm damage in Kankakee1 unlike anything I'd seen before.
Seeing the destruction firsthand was a powerful reminder that behind the claims numbers are families and communities dealing with damaged homes, damaged vehicles, and disrupted lives.
And Kankakee is only one part of the story.
More than 200 tornadoes have been confirmed in Illinois through August 2026, marking the third consecutive year with more than 120 in the state. During that same period, State Farm customers in Illinois filed more than 96,000 weather-related home and auto catastrophe claims.
As of July, State Farm had paid more than $799 million in Illinois for storm-related losses. For additional perspective, in all of 2025, State Farm paid $457 million in Illinois hail claims, the third-highest total in the country.
Building stronger before the next storm
Numbers can help show the scale of severe weather. But what I saw in Kankakee illustrates why, in addition to helping customers recover after a storm, we’re also working to find ways to reduce the damage future storms may cause.
At our Technology Research and Innovation Lab (TRAIL) in Bloomington, State Farm researchers study hail, wind, and other threats to better understand how materials, construction practices and mitigation can help protect homes and communities.
We also work with the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) to advance research-backed approaches to stronger construction. Programs like FORTIFIED demonstrate how homes can be built or retrofitted beyond standard construction practices to better withstand severe weather.
That research has practical applications for homeowners. Roofing material choice is one example. When building, remodeling or replacing a roof, qualifying impact-resistant roofing materials can help reduce hail damage. State Farm also offers premium discounts in many states to eligible homeowners with qualifying impact-resistant roofing products. Research like this helps turn what we learn about severe weather into practical ways to make homes and communities more resilient.
Recovery and resilience go together
I’ve seen how much customers depend on State Farm agents in the days after severe weather. That support extends to claims teams working to help customers recover.
Through August, State Farm has opened seven Customer Care Sites across six Illinois communities, giving customers another place to connect with us as they take the next steps in their recovery.
Helping customers recover from the unexpected is at the heart of our promise. Each severe weather event also gives us an opportunity to learn more about the challenges customers and communities face – and how we can help them become more resilient.
We can’t prevent severe weather. But we can continue learning from it, helping people prepare for it and finding ways to help make our homes and communities stronger.
For Illinois families, that preparation can make a meaningful difference when the next storm comes.
[1] Source: https://www.weather.gov/lot/2026_03_10_Severe_Weather
For over 100 years, the mission of State Farm has been to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance combined in the United States. Its more than 19,200 agent offices and over 62,000 employees serve over 96 million policies and accounts – including auto, fire, life, health, commercial policies and financial services accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 32 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.