Northway’s biggest natural hazard is avalanches
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Northway comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Northway’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Northway faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Avalanches
Wildfire
Cold waves
Does Northway flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Northway. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
How exposed is Northway?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and wildfires.
Rated higher than 287 of the 352 Alaska towns we cover.
Northway is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Northway
Disasters that paid out in Northway itself (aid to households or repair grants to Northway) and its biggest flood years.
- 2002Earthquake60 households applied for aid$72K aid approved
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area has had 11 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.
Old photos of Northway after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Northway archive →Get ready for what Northway actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Check the avalanche forecast before heading into the backcountry.
- Carry a beacon, probe and shovel, and know how to use them.
- Most avalanches are set off by the people caught in them.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in April–May
The month each of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area’s 11 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Northway’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Northway.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Northway.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.