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Natural hazards · Circle

Circle, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Circle comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Circle?

51
Moderate
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Circle to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves78%Avalanches11%Wildfire7%Everything else5%
By hazard

What Circle faces

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

Cold waves

78% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places
Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Avalanches

11% of expected damage
Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Wildfire

7% of expected damage
Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHailHeat wavesDroughtTsunamis
Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Flood insurance claims

Does Circle flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Circle.

of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Circle isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.
Disasters that hit Circle

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CircleDeclared for Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area only
2023

Flooding

30 households applied for aid $500K aid approved
2013

Flooding

26 households applied for aid $275K aid approved
2009

Flooding and Ice Jams

21 households applied for aid $124K aid approved
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.
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. Circle is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Circle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Circle. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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