Floods in the Six County Region
Champaign has been twice affected by floods in the past 10 years. The most severe of these was the in winter of 1992 – 1993. Often referred to as 'great floods', these floods occurred during the winter of 1992 – 1993 and were the costliest and most damaging floods in the history of U.S. Persistent storms and heavy voluminous rainfalls for several days caused flooding of the Mississippi river basin affecting Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Illinois and Minnesota. These devastating floods cost thirty two lives (as per official reports) and an estimated 15 – 20 billion dollars in damages.
Most recent flood that affected Champaign was in April – May 2002. This was characterized by severe storms and flooding that affected whole of Central and Southern Illinois causing damage to property to large parts of the state. Individual assistance was provided to several counties including Champaign.
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Although Ford County is known to have frequent flash floods, in the past 10 years it has seen only two major floods. The most severe one was the big flood in 1993 which caused major damage to life and property. The most recent one has been in April May 2002 when more than 60 counties were affected in Illinois.
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Iroquois County has been frequently affected by floods and flash floods especially in recent years. January 2008 floods that affected it were extremely severe and impacted 1000 homes, with 237 homes classified as sustaining major damage. Most rivers in Central and East Central Illinois - Iroquois, Illinois, Vermilion and Kankakee Rivers and Tippecanoe River in Indiana experienced record flooding. State emergency was declared and individual assistance was provided to Iroquois as well as Livingston Counties. An estimated 40-50% of all residences in Watseka, Illinois were flooded with one to three and a half feet of water, and a shelter was established in the town. In total, 433 people were evacuated from 179 homes in Iroquois County. However, no impact on the critical infrastructure was reported in the towns of Watseka and Livingston. The other major floods in this county are the ones in April-May 2002 and the one in July 1993.
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Although less prone to floods as compared to certain other counties within State, Piatt and De Witt counties have experienced several floods in the past few years. Apart from the 1993 floods which affected almost the whole of Illinois, De Witt and Piatt Counties experienced severe flooding during April – May 2002 and winter of November 2006. Due to severe damage to property both counties received public assistance during these floods.
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Vermilion County has seen two major floods in the past 10 years. These flooding events are known to have occurred in July 1993 and in April - May 2002.
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