840 flood insurance claims·$14.3M paid
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 Iroquois 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.
Flood risk in Iroquois County is characterized by a nearly even mix of longer-duration floods and intense flash floods. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 29 flood events and 25 flash flood events. Recent severe weather includes heavy rainfall and flash flooding from scattered thunderstorms in July 2022, and heavy rain producing rainfall totals above six inches in areas like Paxton, Loda, and Buckley on August 5, 2023.
Federal flood insurance data demonstrates that properties inside designated high-risk areas bear the brunt of this exposure. Zone A properties account for the vast majority of claims with 789 filings, an average payout of $21,602, and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. In contrast, Zone X properties recorded 34 claims with an average payout of $22,223 and an average water depth of 5 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN recorded 13 claims averaging $8,941 with an average depth of 5 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $14,662 and an average depth of 1 inch, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim with a $0 payout and an average depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where the highest frequency of claims and deepest average water levels occur during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Iroquois County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
793 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 11 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 2008, with 363 claims and $5.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Iroquois County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
9 federal disaster declarations since 1990.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jan 7, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Apr 21, 2002 |
| Illinois Winter Snow Storms | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Winter Storm 1/1/99 | Jan 1, 1999 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 9, 1994 |
| Severe Ice Storm | Feb 14, 1990 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 29 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 22, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 5, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jul 4, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Oct 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 24, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Jul 24, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 22, 2023. Freezing rain developed across portions of northern Illinois during the morning of February 22nd and continued into the early morning of February 23rd with the bulk of the freezing rain falling from mid afternoon through mid evening. Thousands of tree limbs and hundreds of power lines came down due to the weight of the ice and northeast winds gusting to 35 mph. Several trees also came down, including one in Arli…
Flash Flood · Aug 5, 2023. Very heavy rain fell across portions of east central Illinois on August 5th which resulted in areas of flash flooding. The highest storm total rainfall amounts included 6.50 inches in Paxton and two miles west northwest of Loda; 6.34 inches two miles east of Claytonville; 6.28 inches four miles east northeast of Buckley; 6.00 inches one mile east of Loda; 5.97 inches in Buckley; 5.79 inches one mile west of Woodw…
Flood · Jul 4, 2022. Scattered thunderstorms moved across central Illinois during the afternoon of July 4th producing scattered wind damage and heavy rain. Isolated thunderstorms moved across parts of northern Illinois during the afternoon of July 4th producing isolated wind damage. Numerous thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois during the late evening of July 4th and the early morning of July 5th producing wind damage and he…
Flood · Oct 25, 2021. High winds produced isolated wind damage and heavy rains produced localized flooding on October 24th and 25th. A large healthy tree limb was blown down in Clarendon Hills in DuPage County. A tree approximately 18 inches in diameter was blown down near the intersection of Washington Street and Hillside Road in Naperville in DuPage County. A large tree limb was blown down in Crystal Lake in McHenry County. A lar…
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 Iroquois 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.