Nearly every time Cook County experiences a heavy downpour, communities—sometimes whole neighborhoods—are 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.

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.

"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," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

"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 says. "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."

Read more in the ABC 7 Chicago article, "Majority of Cook County homes, businesses uninsured for increased flood risk. What you need to know."