Russell County, VA: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Russell County scores at the 48.2th 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. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Russell County
8.3% 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: 33 policies against 398 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 Russell County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Russell County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Russell County ranks 1691 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1610 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 25,420 people live in Russell County, Virginia, spread over 473.524 square miles.
Your street may differ from Russell County's average
Across all of Russell County's 10,460 residential structures, 42 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
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.