Natural hazards · Anchorage

Anchorage, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Anchorage comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 25 claims here since 1988. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Anchorage?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Anchorage to be higher than in 89% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes.

Earthquakes84%Avalanches15%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Anchorage faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Earthquakes

84% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Avalanches

15% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Lower here

Inland floodingCoastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

HurricanesHeat wavesStrong windDrought

Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Anchorage flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Anchorage, from FEMA’s records.

25paid claims since 1988

$256Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19882026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Anchorage is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Anchorage Borough.

Disasters that hit Anchorage

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Anchorage itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Anchorage.

Brought FEMA money into AnchorageDeclared for Anchorage Borough only

2018

Earthquake

4,630 households applied for aid $13.3M aid approved

2003

Severe Winter Storm, Including High Winds and Freezing Temperatures

312 households applied for aid $130K aid approved

Anchorage Borough has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and earthquakes.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Anchorage covers 61 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Anchorage’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Anchorage. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Anchorage total about $421M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.