Polk County, NE: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Polk County scores at the 16.4th 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. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
2.3% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Polk County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 14 policies against 609 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Polk County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Polk County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Polk County ranks 2663 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2800 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 5,269 people live in Polk County, Nebraska, spread over 438.832 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Polk County
Across all of Polk County's 4,170 residential structures, 16 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Polk 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.