929 flood insurance claims·$11.4M paid·4 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 Kane 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 in Kane County is dominated by standard riverine floods and sudden flash floods driven by severe summer thunderstorms. NOAA Storm Events records indicate 40 flood events and 29 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include severe flash flooding from torrential rainfall on August 17, 2025, and additional storm-induced flooding on July 5, 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond high-risk areas. High-risk Zone A accounts for 601 claims with an average payout of $17,425 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Zone X accounts for 130 claims with an average payout of $10,959 and an average water depth of 8 inches. Zone X unshaded accounts for 91 claims with an average payout of $17,636 and an average water depth of 5 inches. Zone X shaded accounts for 49 claims with an average payout of $15,886 and an average water depth of 13 inches, while unknown zones account for 58 claims averaging $4,406 and 2 inches of water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, as well as those in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas where significant claim volumes and recorded water depths demonstrate persistent flood exposure outside of primary designated flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Kane County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
741 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 10 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 1996, with 193 claims and $4.1M 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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Kane County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
16 federal disaster declarations since 1967, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 13, 2008 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 20, 2007 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Illinois Winter Snow Storms | Dec 11, 2000 |
| Winter Storm 1/1/99 | Jan 1, 1999 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 17, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 29 flash floods and 40 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Jul 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jul 5, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 17, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 30, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 17, 2025. A series of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall and widespread flooding to much of the Chicago metro area, namely the south and west suburbs and up into the city of Chicago. Several Oswego District 308 schools received water and storm damage. Flood damages were estimated at around $288 million across the metro area, most of which came from the city of Chicago which alone accounted for roughly $230 million in…
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.
Flash Flood · Jul 5, 2023. A cluster of strong thunderstorms brought damaging winds, torrential rainfall, and flash flooding to parts of northern Illinois during the afternoon and evening of July 5. Several rain gauges around the area recorded one to two inches of rain within a 30 minute period underneath some of these storms. The city of Chicago and its near-south and near-west suburbs were the areas hit hardest. Numerous reports were rece…
Flood · Jul 5, 2022. Scattered thunderstorms moved across parts of northern Illinois during the evening of July 5th into the early morning of July 6th producing scattered wind damage and 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 Kane 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.