Natural hazards · Hope

Hope, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hope comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hope?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hope to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches.

Avalanches88%Earthquakes10%Everything else2%

By hazard

What Hope faces

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

Avalanches

88% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesStrong windDrought

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

Flood insurance claims

Does Hope flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Disasters that hit Hope

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HopeDeclared for Kenai Peninsula Borough only

2018

Earthquake

3 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2002

Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Coastal Erosion and Tidal Surge

1 household applied for aid $1K aid approved

Kenai Peninsula Borough has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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