518 flood insurance claims·$5.0M paid·4 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 Woodford 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 Woodford County, Illinois, accounting for 33 of the 45 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 12 general flood events. This risk is driven by slow-moving storms and mesoscale convective systems producing heavy rainfall, such as an event on May 25, 2020, which dropped 2 to 3 inches of rain and caused flash flooding from East Peoria eastward to Roanoke. Another multi-round convective event impacted the Illinois River Valley on July 15, 2020, producing heavy rain and flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims concentrated heavily in Zone A, which accounts for 384 claims with an average payout of $11,829 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 98 claims averaging $6,485 with an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X_SHADED saw 14 claims averaging $4,525 with an average depth of 12 inches. Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 11 claims each, with average payouts of $56,788 (averaging 2 inches of water depth) and $12,825 (averaging 12 inches of water depth), respectively. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in Zone A and unmapped or shaded areas should pay the closest attention to these localized flash flood hazards.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Woodford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
409 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 6 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 129 claims and $486,364 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes & 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.
22 NOAA storm reports from Woodford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Illinois flood stories →
14 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Nov 17, 2013 |
| 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 Winter Storm | Nov 30, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 6, 2003 |
| Winter Storm 1/1/99 | Jan 1, 1999 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 33 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 2, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 19, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jul 15, 2020 | $10.0M |
| Flash Flood | Jul 15, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 2, 2022. A persistent frontal boundary draped across central Illinois continued to be the focus for strong to severe thunderstorm development during the morning of August 2nd. A low-level jet interacting with the boundary triggered the first cluster of storms across portions of Sangamon and Logan counties during the pre-dawn hours, with additional cells forming from Galesburg to near Lawrenceville as the morning progresse…
Flash Flood · May 25, 2020. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed along residual outflow boundaries from previous convection during the late afternoon and evening of May 25th. Despite weak wind shear and slow storm-movement, some of the cells produced wind gusts of 50-60 mph which created pockets of wind damage. In addition, locally heavy rainfall of 2 to 3 inches caused flash flooding from East Peoria eastward to near Roanoke…
Flash Flood · Jul 19, 2020. A line of thunderstorms dropped into north-central Illinois during the morning of July 19th. A few of the cells produced wind gusts of 50-60 mph and minor tree damage in Marshall County, as well as locally heavy rainfall of 2 to 3 inches and flash flooding in parts of Woodford County. As the storms tracked further southeastward, quarter-sized hail was reported in Champaign.
Flood · Jul 15, 2020. Low pressure tracked from near Kansas City on the morning of July 15th to southern Lake Michigan by midnight on July 16th. The low interacted with an unstable and very moist environment to produce a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) over eastern Kansas into Missouri, which then pushed into west-central Illinois by the mid to late morning of July 15th. Several rounds of convection moved across the Illinois River…
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 Woodford 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.