Lake County, TN: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Lake County scores at the 8.8th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Very Low" — among the lowest flood hazard in the country. 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.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Lake County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Lake 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, 10.2% of them do — 9 active policies against 88 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.1% of all residential structures in Lake County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Lake County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Lake County ranks 2882 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2704 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Lake County, Tennessee covers 165.785 square miles and counts roughly 6,422 residents.
Your street may differ from Lake County's average
25 of Lake County's 2,309 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Lake 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.