3 flood insurance claims·$64,185 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 Shelby 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 profile of Shelby County, Illinois. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 53 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 10 standard flood events.
Recent history illustrates these localized hazards. On July 20, 2025, an outflow boundary interacting with a moist airmass triggered clusters of severe thunderstorms, causing flash flooding mainly south of a Shelbyville to Marshall line. Earlier, on March 31, 2022, a strong cold front brought 2 to 3 inches of rainfall over a 24-hour period, leading to localized flash flooding of rural roads and a fatal incident when a vehicle was swept away southwest of Shelbyville.
FEMA records for the county include National Flood Insurance Program claims categorized under Zone UNKNOWN, totaling 3 claims with an average payout of $21,395 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Properties in unmapped or unknown zones, as well as rural areas prone to flash flooding from intense rainfall and severe thunderstorms, should pay the most attention to these risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
The worst year was 2001, with 1 claims and $41,145 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.
27 NOAA storm reports from Shelby County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
10 federal disaster declarations since 1990, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 16, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Nov 30, 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, Tornadoes & Flooding | May 15, 1990 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 53 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 20, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2022 | — · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2020 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2025. An outflow boundary interacting with a very moist airmass characterized by surface dewpoints in the middle to upper 70s triggered clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms across south-central Illinois during the afternoon and evening of July 20th. Scattered wind damage and flash flooding occurred...mainly south of a Shelbyville to Marshall line.
Flood · Jul 20, 2025. An outflow boundary interacting with a very moist airmass characterized by surface dewpoints in the middle to upper 70s triggered clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms across south-central Illinois during the afternoon and evening of July 20th. Scattered wind damage and flash flooding occurred...mainly south of a Shelbyville to Marshall line.
Flash Flood · Mar 31, 2022. A strong cold front brought widespread showers and thunderstorms to central Illinois from the afternoon of March 30th through the pre-dawn hours of March 31st. 24-hour rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 3 inches, which caused localized flash flooding of a few rural roads. A man tried to drive across a flooded roadway southwest of Shelbyville in Shelby County at around 7:30am CDT on March 31st. His vehicle stalled…
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2022. A strong nocturnal low-level jet interacting with a nearly stationary frontal boundary triggered a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) over northern Missouri during the pre-dawn hours of June 17th. The large thunderstorm cluster tracked east-southeastward along the boundary, producing significant wind damage and flash flooding. The storms were focused along and southeast of a Rushville...to Springfield...to Shelby…
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 Shelby 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.