Natural hazards · Kipnuk

Kipnuk, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Kipnuk comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low 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 Kipnuk?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Kipnuk to be higher than in 1% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves.

Cold waves88%Inland flooding6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Kipnuk faces

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

Cold waves

88% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 7 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 2% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesDrought

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 Kipnuk flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bethel Census Area.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5flood-prone homes bought out and moved

Disasters that hit Kipnuk

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into KipnukDeclared for Bethel Census Area only

2025

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Remnants of Typhoon Halong

282 households applied for aid $18.1M aid approved

2023

Flooding

2 households applied for aid $11K aid approved

2022

Severe Storm, Flooding, and Landslides

31 households applied for aid $97K aid approved

Bethel Census Area has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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