29 flood insurance claims·$131,801 paid·5 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 Scott 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 weather and thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Scott County, accounting for 31 of the 42 total recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 11 standard flood events.
These flood hazards are frequently driven by stationary frontal boundaries and slow-moving thunderstorm clusters. For instance, on May 25, 2021, disturbances tracking along a stationary front produced heavy rainfall that impacted southern portions of Scott and Morgan counties. Similarly, on May 16, 2020, slow-moving thunderstorms dropped 3 to 4 inches of rain across southern sections of Scott, Morgan, and Sangamon counties, resulting in the flash flooding of numerous county roads and city viaducts.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located within high-risk Zone A face the heaviest impacts, recording 23 claims with an average payout of $6,367 and an average recorded water depth of 50 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A, as well as areas outside of standard high-risk zones that may still experience localized flash flooding during heavy rainfall events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of Scott County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
26 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 26 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 1993, with 11 claims and $44,956 paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Scott County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 24, 2019 |
| 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 | Jun 1, 2008 |
| Snow | Nov 30, 2006 |
| Tornadoes And Severe Storms | Mar 11, 2006 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
42 since 1996: 31 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Jul 19, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2015 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Jul 12, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 24, 2024. On the morning of May 24th a low pressure system was located over the eastern Dakotas, with Illinois positioned in the warm sector. Over the course of the day, several rounds of thunderstorms occurred. First, a squall line tracked across Iowa and reached Illinois by the morning. The most intense part of this squall line tracked north of central Illinois, but the system did produce one instance of wind damage in St…
Flash Flood · Jun 25, 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…
Flash Flood · May 16, 2020. Several clusters of slow-moving thunderstorms tracked along and just north of a warm front draped along the I-64 corridor during the afternoon and evening of May 16th. The storms dropped 3 to 4 inches of rain across the southern sections of Scott, Morgan, and Sangamon counties...including 3.84 just southeast of Curran in Sangamon County and 3.05 in Murrayville in Morgan County. The heavy rainfall created flash f…
Flood · Apr 29, 2017. Heavy rainfall impacted central and southeast Illinois from April 29th into April 30th...creating flash flooding, which led to widespread areal flooding. Periods of thunderstorms with very high rainfall rates dropped 2.00 to 6.50 inches of rain across much of central and southeast Illinois from April 29th into early on May 1st. This rainfall, occurring on top of already saturated soils, created flash flooding in a…
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 Scott 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.