293 flood insurance claims·$3.7M 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 Sangamon 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 severe summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Sangamon County, accounting for 65 of the last 30 years of recorded flood events, compared to 15 general flood events which resulted in two deaths.
Recent weather illustrates this local vulnerability. During an August 30, 2024, storm, a cold front interacting with a warm, moist environment produced urban flash flooding across portions of Springfield alongside wind gusts and hail. Earlier in the year on May 20, 2025, a slow-moving warm front generated scattered supercells and heavy rainfall across the region.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located in FEMA Flood Zone A, which has accumulated the highest number of NFIP claims in the county with 160 claims averaging $17,638 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in Zone X also warrant careful review, having recorded 38 claims with an average water depth of 19 inches and an average payout of $21,806.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Sangamon County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
198 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 8 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 36 claims and $145,821 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.
40 NOAA storm reports from Sangamon County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
12 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 1 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 And Flooding | Apr 28, 1996 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
80 since 1996: 65 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 14, 2023 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 20, 2025. A warm front lifted slowly northward through central Illinois during the afternoon of May 20th. A few showers developed in the vicinity of the boundary...with one of the cells producing a brief EF-0 tornado near Oakland in northeastern Coles County. Meanwhile further west, scattered supercell thunderstorms formed in the warm sector ahead of a cold front crossing the Mississippi River. Some of the storms dropped…
Flash Flood · Apr 2, 2025. An area of low pressure tracked from southeastern Nebraska during the morning of April 2nd to western Wisconsin by evening, triggering two rounds of convection across central Illinois.||Round 1 occurred during the morning when a line of thunderstorms along the trailing cold front pushed into the Illinois River Valley. These storms were generally sub-severe, but one cell produced a downburst with estimated winds i…
Flash Flood · Aug 30, 2024. A cold front interacting with a seasonably warm and moist environment triggered clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms across central Illinois during the afternoon and evening of August 30th. One cell dropped nickel-sized hail, while others produced wind gusts of around 60mph and minor wind damage. In addition, urban flash flooding occurred across portions of Springfield and Champaign. No road closures or w…
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2024. A cold front was positioned well west of the area on the evening of April 27, 2024. A strengthening low-level jet resulted in scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms developing across central Illinois. These storms produced isolated wind damage and flash flooding during the late evening.
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 Sangamon 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.