Tallapoosa County, AL: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Tallapoosa County scores at the 77.9th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Moderate" — a middling flood hazard by national standards. 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.
Tallapoosa County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Tallapoosa 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, 14.7% of them do — 49 active policies against 333 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.4% of all residential structures in Tallapoosa County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Tallapoosa County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Tallapoosa County ranks 726 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1179 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 40,699 people live in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, spread over 716.539 square miles.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Tallapoosa County
FEMA counts 19,699 residential structures in Tallapoosa County overall, 84 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Tallapoosa 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.