287 flood insurance claims·$2.2M paid·7 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 Whiteside 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.
River flooding from regional waterways and seasonal runoff dominates the flood profile of Whiteside County, supported by 39 general flood events compared to 23 flash flood events recorded over the last 30 years. Historic river crests along the Mississippi River are frequently driven by heavy winter snowpacks, frozen ground, and rapid spring snowmelt originating in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as occurred in April 2023. Additionally, prolonged high water levels can persist into the summer months when combined with local heavy rainfall, as documented in July 2024. Flash flooding also poses a localized threat from rapid, heavy downpours, such as the storms that caused flash flooding in Prophetstown in March 2020.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in high-risk Zone A face the highest frequency of claims, with 184 filings averaging an eight-inch recorded water depth and payouts averaging $11,465. Properties situated in moderate-to-low risk zones also experience impacts; Zone X_SHADED claims average a 23-inch recorded water depth and $14,819 in payouts, while Zone X_UNSHADED claims average a 13-inch recorded water depth and $11,478 in payouts. Homeowners near the Mississippi River and other waterways, as well as property owners located within FEMA-designated Zone A and shaded Zone X areas, should pay the closest attention to flood risk and mitigation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Whiteside County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
203 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 7 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 40 claims and $330,294 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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Whiteside County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| 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 | Jun 1, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Flooding | Apr 18, 2001 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | Apr 13, 1993 |
| Blizzards & Snowstorms | Jan 16, 1979 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
62 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 39 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 7, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 25, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2020 | — |
| Flood | May 30, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 26, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 7, 2024. Rain that fell during the month of June across Minnesota and Wisconsin caused rises on the Mississippi River, along the Iowa and Illinois border. Additionally, heavy rain that fell locally in July helped to prolong the crest and delay the river falling below flood stage, especially south of the Wapsipinicon, Rock, and Iowa Rivers.
Flood · Apr 25, 2023. Significant flooding occurred on the mainstem Mississippi largely due to the record snowfall this winter in Minnesota and Wisconsin, frozen ground, rapid snowmelt during the middle of April, and saturated soils. Major flooding was observed at all sites along the Mississippi north of Keokuk Iowa and most sites saw one of their top 10 crests on record.|This flooding had numerous impacts, with many roads, businesses…
Flash Flood · Mar 27, 2020. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms dropped 1 to 4 inches of rain quickly across parts of Rock Island and Whiteside Counties during the evening of the 27th into the early morning hours of the 28th. Most of the rain fell in a 1 hour period and brought flash flooding to the Quad Cities Metro Area and Prophetstown in southwest Whiteside County.
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2020. A disturbance moving across the eastern Iowa on the 27th produced slow moving showers and thunderstorms across the area. Many of these storms produced torrential rainfall which caused flash flooding in Whiteside County.
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 Whiteside 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.