Russell County, AL: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Russell County scores at the 66.9th 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 1 years. 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
13.2% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Russell County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 34 policies against 257 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.3% of all residential structures in Russell County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Russell County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Russell County ranks 1087 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 905 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Russell County, Alabama covers 641.182 square miles and counts roughly 58,837 residents.
Your street may differ from Russell County's average
60 of Russell County's 20,642 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Russell 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.