58 flood insurance claims·$113,428 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 Logan 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 slow-moving storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Logan County, Illinois, accounting for 43 of the 48 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 5 general flood events resulting in 1 death.
Recent storms illustrate this hazard. On September 22, 2023, a slow-moving upper-level disturbance dropped over 3 inches of rain across a swath of central Illinois, with a localized spot near Chestnut in southeastern Logan County recording more than 9 inches. Earlier that year on February 22, 2023, a warm front along the I-72 corridor triggered strong thunderstorms and heavy precipitation across the region. Additionally, an August 11, 2023 storm system produced locally heavy rainfall exceeding 1 inch, causing minor urban flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs across multiple zones. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 20 claims with an average payout of $2,225 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches, while Zone A saw 16 claims averaging $4,723 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone X recorded 7 claims averaging $9,248 with an average water depth of 3 inches, Zone X_UNSHADED had 13 claims averaging $1,061 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 2 claims averaging $512 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in unmapped or unknown zones, Zone A, and Zone X, where repetitive claims and standing water depths averaging 2 to 3 inches have been documented during intense rainfall events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
48% of Logan County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
31 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 2 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 1982, with 14 claims and $26,430 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Logan County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 29, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Nov 30, 2006 |
| Tornadoes And Severe Storms | Mar 11, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Apr 21, 2002 |
| Winter Storm 1/1/99 | Jan 1, 1999 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Jun 10, 1974 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
48 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 22, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Aug 11, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2021 | $300,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 22, 2023. A slow-moving upper-level disturbance interacting with a weak area of low pressure brought widespread rain and a few thunderstorms to central Illinois during the early morning of September 22nd. Due to the slow-moving nature of the showers, rainfall amounts exceeded 3 inches in a swatch from southeastern Logan and northwestern Macon counties northward across DeWitt and McLean counties. A localized spot in southe…
Flash Flood · Feb 22, 2023. A warm front draped along the I-72 corridor served as the initial focusing mechanism for convection across central Illinois on February 22nd. Midday temperatures ranged from the upper 30s north of the boundary in the Peoria area to the lower 70s along and south of I-70. An upper-level disturbance interacting with the sharp temperature gradient triggered clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms during the late…
Flood · Aug 11, 2023. Thunderstorms developed overnight across Iowa, ahead of a cold front, in an environment characterized by moderate instability and shear. The storms congealed into a line that swept across central Illinois during the early morning hours of August 11, producing scattered damaging winds before weakening after moving east of I-55. The thunderstorms produced locally heavy rainfall over 1 inch, which led to minor floodi…
Flash Flood · Jun 26, 2021. A series of disturbances tracking along a nearly stationary frontal boundary resulted in two periods of heavy rainfall across parts of central Illinois on June 25th and June 26th. The hardest hit areas were across southern McLean County into far northern Logan County, as well as across southern portions of Scott and Morgan counties. The first wave of heavy rain began around 7pm CDT June 25th and persisted until…
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 Logan 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.