46 flood insurance claims·$271,254 paid·2 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Boone County, Illinois. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates Boone County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 20 flood events and 14 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Storms frequently produce localized flooding, such as the severe weather and flooding that occurred in July 2024 and July 2022.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims occur across multiple zones with varying severity. Zone A leads with 27 claims, averaging a 54-inch recorded water depth and a $9,132 payout. Zone X records 9 claims with an average water depth of 3 inches and an average payout of $13,519. Additionally, 10 claims are recorded in Zone UNKNOWN, averaging a 1-inch water depth and a $2,451 payout.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which experiences the highest number of claims and significantly deeper average water depths during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Boone County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
27 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 31 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1999, with 6 claims and $14,518 paid.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
5 NOAA storm reports from Boone County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
11 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Record Snow And Near Record Snow | Feb 5, 2008 |
| Snow | Nov 30, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Illinois Winter Snow Storms | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 13, 1993 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 16, 1979 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 26, 1973 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
34 since 1996: 14 flash floods and 20 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 23, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 14, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jul 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Aug 9, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jun 26, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Sep 13, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 23, 2024. Scattered thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois during the afternoon and early evening of July 23rd producing isolated wind damage and isolated flooding.
Flood · Jul 14, 2024. Thunderstorms developed during the evening of July 14th and continued into the early morning of July 15th, as they moved across all of northern and central Illinois. Nine tornadoes occurred, along with widespread wind damage. In the City of Chicago, there were 2,810 tree emergency calls and 1,430 calls for tree debris. Localized flash flooding also occurred, for a second night in a row in the Rockford area.
Flood · Jul 13, 2024. Scattered thunderstorms moved across parts of northern Illinois during the afternoon of July 13th producing isolated wind damage.||Scattered thunderstorms developed during the evening of July 13th and continued into the early morning of July 14th producing significant flash flooding in Rockford as well as isolated wind damage.
Flood · Apr 30, 2022. Scattered severe thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois on April 30th producing three tornadoes, large hail, localized wind damage and minor flooding.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Boone County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.