23 flood insurance claims·$272,258 paid·1 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 Lawrence 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.
Flash flooding from heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Lawrence County, accounting for 39 of the past 30 years of recorded flood events, compared to 11 general flood events. Recent severe weather demonstrates this pattern, including April 2025 events when saturated soils and repeated rounds of thunderstorms caused Indian Creek to overflow, leading to the closure of South Main Street in Bridgeport, alongside 24-hour rainfall totals reaching 4.55 inches in Lawrenceville. Additional flash flooding occurred in June and July 2025 due to slow-moving cold fronts producing 1 to 3.5 inches of rain.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located in high-risk Zone A face the heaviest frequency and financial impact, registering 13 claims with an average payout of $16,969 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X also experienced claims, averaging $16,116 with a 2-inch average water depth, while unshaded Zone X properties averaged $6,705. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A and those near local creeks, streams, and low-lying areas susceptible to rapid runoff from heavy storms.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 9 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 2019, with 5 claims and $90,528 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.
23 NOAA storm reports from Lawrence County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
9 federal disaster declarations since 1996, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 1, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Record/near Record Snow | Dec 21, 2004 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Apr 21, 2002 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 28, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
50 since 1996: 39 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Feb 7, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 30, 2025. A slow-moving cold front progressed across Illinois during the afternoon and evening of June 30th, 2025, interacting with a very moist, unstable airmass and resulting in clusters of thunderstorms. Eventually, these clusters of storms grew into a slow-moving complex that produced heavy rain along and southeast of the I-70 corridor, with rainfall amounts ranging from 1 to 3.5 inches. This resulted in a few instances…
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. Several waves of low pressure tracking along a stationary frontal boundary draped across the Ohio River Valley brought periods of showers and thunderstorms to the southern half of Illinois from April 3rd through April 5th. The heaviest rain occurred during the evening of April 4th into the morning of the 5th when amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common along and south of I-70. A Cooperative Weather Observer in Lawr…
Flash Flood · Aug 4, 2025. A weak trough of low pressure triggered a few clusters of thunderstorms across central and southeast Illinois during the afternoon and evening of August 4th. One of the most prominent clusters dropped 2.44 of rain in a short amount of time at the Lawrenceville Airport and caused flash flooding along Illinois Route 1 on the north side of Lawrenceville.
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2025. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms occurred across southeast Illinois in advance of a warm front on April 1st into the early morning of April 2nd. Rainfall amounts of 1.50 to 2.50 were common...with a few spots approaching 3.00. Thanks to the heavy rainfall occurring on already saturated soils, numerous creeks and streams overflowed their banks. Indian Creek flooded, causing the closure of South Main Stre…
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 Lawrence 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.