Botetourt County, VA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Botetourt County scores at the 42.4th 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 1.6 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Botetourt County
Out of 595 homes FEMA counts inside Botetourt County's mapped flood zone, 120 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 20.2% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1% of all residential structures in Botetourt County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Botetourt County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Botetourt County ranks 1872 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1332 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 34,129 people live in Botetourt County, Virginia, spread over 541.276 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Botetourt County
Across all of Botetourt County's 14,456 residential structures, 137 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Botetourt 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.