Event narrative (NOAA)
An extended period of heavy rain during the evening of December 26th in Christian County combined with an already saturated ground to produce flash flooding. Rainfall amounts ranged from 2.50 to 4.50 inches in less than six hours, with the heaviest rain in the southern half of the county. Most rural roads and state highways were flooded and impassable. City streets in Taylorville and Pana were also flooded. The flooding continued through all of December 27th. Additional rainfall of 2.50 to 4.75 from December 28th into the 29th aggravated the flooding situation significantly. Every road in the county was flooded which resulted in a shortage of barricades to close the roads. The village of Kincaid was hardest hit as the South Fork of the Sangamon River overtopped levees and flooded the south
Other notable flood events in Illinois
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.