Is Appanoose County, IA in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Appanoose County's flood hazard at the 30th percentile nationally — among the lowest flood hazard in the country — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.7 times a year. 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
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Appanoose County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 0.4% of them do — 1 active policies against 246 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Appanoose County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
How Appanoose County compares nationally
Appanoose County sits at rank 2259 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2275 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). About 12,106 people live in Appanoose County, Iowa, spread over 497.299 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Appanoose County
Across all of Appanoose County's 11,400 residential structures, 3 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Appanoose County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.