Alpena County, MI: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Alpena County scores at the 51th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 14 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
4.5% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Alpena County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 24 policies against 537 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Alpena County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Alpena County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Alpena County ranks 1604 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1475 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Alpena County, Michigan covers 571.899 square miles and counts roughly 28,903 residents.
Your street may differ from Alpena County's average
Across all of Alpena County's 13,822 residential structures, 47 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Alpena County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.