Hale County, AL: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Hale County scores at the 41.8th 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 2 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Hale County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Out of 830 homes FEMA counts inside Hale County's mapped flood zone, 59 carry the flood policy federal law requires there — 7.1% compliance, short of full coverage. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1% of all residential structures in Hale County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Hale County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Hale County ranks 1891 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2089 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 15,116 people live in Hale County, Alabama, spread over 643.991 square miles.
Your street may differ from Hale County's average
FEMA counts 6,511 residential structures in Hale County overall, 63 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Hale 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.