Natural hazards · Ester

Ester, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ester comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ester?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Ester to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and earthquakes.

Wildfire34%Earthquakes27%Cold waves19%Avalanches7%Inland flooding6%Landslides6%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Ester faces

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

Wildfire

34% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Avalanches

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Inland flooding

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 100 years in the area

Landslides

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesIce stormsWinter weatherStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHailHeat wavesDroughtTsunamis

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Ester flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Ester isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Fairbanks North Star Borough.

Disasters that hit Ester

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Fairbanks North Star Borough shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Ester itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into EsterDeclared for Fairbanks North Star Borough only

Fairbanks North Star Borough has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

Around Ester

Ester and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Estermostly wildfiresVery high

Goldstreammostly wildfiresVery high

Chena Ridgemostly earthquakesHigh

Collegemostly earthquakesHigh

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. Ester 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 Ester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Ester. 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.