Island County, WA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Island County scores at the 73.4th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. The hazard here is driven by coastal storm surge rather than inland rivers — FEMA's model puts a surge event here at about 3.2 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
30.3% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Island County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 780 policies against 2,573 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 2.2% of all residential structures in Island County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Island County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Island County ranks 873 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 684 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Island County, Washington covers 208.698 square miles and counts roughly 86,478 residents.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Island County
FEMA counts 41,128 residential structures in Island County overall, 906 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Island County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. Island County's coastal exposure is covered in the coastal vs. inland flood risk guide, including how storm surge risk differs from river flooding.