How much flood risk does Pottawatomie County actually carry?
Pottawatomie County lands at the 67.4th percentile of FEMA's National Risk Index for flooding, "Relatively Low" territory — below the national norm for flood hazard — with the hazard driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Pottawatomie County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Pottawatomie 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, 12.7% of them do — 69 active policies against 544 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Pottawatomie County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 0.5% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Pottawatomie County ranks
Pottawatomie County sits at rank 1070 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 755 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma covers 787.816 square miles and counts roughly 74,446 residents.
Checking a specific address in Pottawatomie County
Across all of Pottawatomie County's 25,725 residential structures, 115 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Pottawatomie County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.