Natural hazards · McCarthy

McCarthy, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in McCarthy comes from avalanches, 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 McCarthy?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in McCarthy to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches.

Avalanches76%Earthquakes11%Everything else14%

By hazard

What McCarthy faces

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

Avalanches

76% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesStrong windDroughtTsunamis

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

Flood insurance claims

Does McCarthy flood?

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

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