Zapata County, TX Flood Zone & Flood Risk Data
Zapata County, TX: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Zapata County scores at the 19.9th 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 1.1 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Zapata County's flood-insurance compliance gap
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Zapata 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, 4.4% of them do, 24 active policies against 546 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Zapata County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise, relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Zapata County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Zapata County ranks 2561, 1 being the highest hazard nationally, and 2172 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Zapata County, Texas is home to about 13,819 people across 998.415 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Zapata County
30 of Zapata County's 5,682 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count, useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Zapata 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.