16 flood insurance claims·$132,983 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 McDonough 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in McDonough County, accounting for 45 recorded events compared to 31 standard flood events over the last 30 years.
Severe storms frequently drop heavy rainfall on saturated ground, as demonstrated on July 11, 2025, when storms brought 2 to 4 inches of rain in a few hours. Similar heavy rainfall of 3 to 4 inches fell on July 19, 2025, leading directly to flash flooding in Macomb.
NFIP insurance claims reflect varying risk levels across flood zones. Properties in Zone A recorded an average water depth of 39 inches with an average payout of $8,149. Zone UNKNOWN recorded an average water depth of 8 inches with an average payout of $7,363, while a single claim in Zone X_SHADED recorded an average water depth of 5 inches and an average payout of $27,541. Homeowners in designated Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A, as well as properties with unmapped or unknown flood statuses, should pay the most attention to flood preparedness given the historical frequency of intense rainfall and flash flooding.
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 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 1982, with 3 claims and $2,705 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.
18 NOAA storm reports from McDonough County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
11 federal disaster declarations since 1999, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Snow | Nov 30, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 6, 2003 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Apr 21, 2002 |
| Illinois Winter Snow Storms | Dec 11, 2000 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
76 since 1996: 45 flash floods and 31 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 11, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 22, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 26, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 19, 2025. A decaying line of thunderstorms moved into Muscatine on the morning of July 19th. This produced heavy rain with trained spotters reports ranging from 3 to 4 inches of rain. This rain falling on already saturated ground led to flash flooding in Macomb.
Flash Flood · Jul 11, 2025. On July 11th, a line of severe thunderstorms moved across eastern Iowa and into northwest Illinois. These storms produced damaging straight-line winds and very heavy rain. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches fell in a few hours across the Quad Cities, on top of heavy rain from the previous night and caused flash flooding in Moline and Bureau County. A Considerable Flash Flood warning was issued at 5:26 PM followed b…
Flash Flood · Jul 15, 2024. Thunderstorms rapidly developed over northern Iowa during the afternoon and organized into a powerful line of wind producing storms that surged through the Quad Cities and into northern and central Illinois through the evening hours. These storms brought widespread damaging winds up to 100 mph for many locations, extending across eastern Iowa, much of Illinois, and into Indiana. The Storm Prediction Center has c…
Flood · Jun 1, 2022. An area of thunderstorms moved over the same areas repeatedly, and resulted in very heavy rain and flash flooding in west central Illinois in the early morning hours of June 1st, 2022.
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 McDonough 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.