Majority of Cook County homes, businesses uninsured for increased flood risk. What you need to know - WLS-TV

Cook County flooding: Climate change-induced flood risk is increasing in the Chicago area. What you need to know - ABC7 Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's a troubling phenomenon nearly every time Cook County experiences a heavy downpour: Communities, sometimes whole neighborhoods, left underwater.

This kind of flooding can lead to tens of thousands of dollars in damages, and health risks to low-income neighborhoods, not equipped to remediate and repair what's left of their homes or basements.

An ABC7 I-Team data analysis found those risks will continue to grow over the next three decades.

More than 200,000 Cook County properties are at major or severe risk of flooding in the next 30 years, according to data released by the First Street Foundation. Of those properties at risk, 94% are uninsured, ABC7 found.

A lot of those properties at risk are nowhere near a river, lake or designated flood zone, which isn't a surprise to researchers like Syracuse University Professor Sarah Pralle.

"We're getting lots of intense rain in short periods of time. And that just means that a lot of the drainage systems in cities, especially with old sort of infrastructure, can't handle that amount of runoff in that quick of a time," Pralle told ABC7.

Pralle explained the kind of flooding Chicago has experienced recently is classified as pluvial or surface flooding, caused by overwhelmed and aging sewage or drainage systems, not equipped to handle the high volume of rain falling in a short period of time.

"That water has nowhere to go, it can't get absorbed by the ground," Pralle said. "So what homeowners are finding is their basements are backing up."

That's what happened to Pastor Cy Fields out of Austin this past summer, when severe storms in Cook County resulted in eight inches of water dropped in a short period of time, according to state officials.

Fields said he was with his East Garfield Park congregation on the morning of July 2 when his wife called frantically.

"My wife gave out a scream, saying 'The basement is flooding!'" Fields recalled. "It was uncontrollable and it was sewer water, it was dirty water."

More than a week after that storm, Governor Pritzker issued a major disaster declaration which was approved by President Biden in August. That declaration unlocked federal FEMA assistance for homeowners impacted by the storm.

Property owners have until Oct. 16 to file claims for assistance with FEMA for damages caused by the July storm (To learn more about that process, click here.)

But many property owners tell ABC7 the money they received from FEMA did not cover their damages completely.

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Researchers say that's not a surprise, and emphasize the need for property owners to research flooding insurance options.

"If there is a federally declared disaster... you might get some chance as a homeowner of getting a little bit of help from the federal government," Pralle said. "However, it's very small and those who are insured are able to get quite a bit back and get back on their feet much more quickly than the people who don't carry flood insurance."

Case in point, Fields told ABC7 he was approved for assistance from FEMA, and he had a flooding insurance policy on his home. Fields said he had purchased the insurance policy after past flooding events on his street in Austin.

This time around, though, he said the money he received from his insurance provider outweighed what FEMA provided him.

Fields said he worries for those who may not be able to afford annual insurance policies, on top of other living expenses.

"We have seniors in this community who live on fixed incomes. We have people who live in garden apartments and buildings that are not their own. And, and so there's an uncontrollable variable here that makes getting insurance difficult," Fields said.

Professor Pralle agrees, and believes flooding insurance needs to be made more widely available to people of all income levels.

"For some people, it is a heavy financial burden," Pralle said. "However, the solution I think, is not to forgo flood insurance, but to find ways to make it affordable for those who cannot afford it."

While some private insurance providers offer flooding or "sewage back-up" policies, there's also federally-backed policies available through the National Flood Insurance Program.

A spokesperson for FEMA tells ABC7 all communities in Cook County are eligible for these kinds of policies.

"Flood damage is typically not covered by homeowner's insurance, so it's important to consider purchasing a flood insurance policy," a FEMA spokesperson said by email, adding that, "There is a 30-day waiting period before a flood insurance policy becomes effective, so it's important to act now."

To learn more about the National Flood Insurance Program, and the policies it offers, click here or call 1-800-427-2419.