Natural hazards · Salcha

Salcha, AK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Salcha comes from wildfires, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Salcha?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Salcha to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and cold waves.

Wildfire51%Cold waves20%Avalanches16%Earthquakes6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Salcha faces

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

Wildfire

51% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Avalanches

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Lower here

Inland floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherLandslidesStrong windLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesHeat wavesDroughtTsunamis

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

Flood insurance claims

Does Salcha flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Salcha 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

2flood-prone homes bought out and moved

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Salcha

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SalchaDeclared for Fairbanks North Star Borough only

2002

Earthquake

1 household applied for aid $285 aid approved

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

Around Salcha

Salcha and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Salchamostly wildfiresVery high

Harding-Birch Lakesmostly wildfiresVery high

Eielson AFBmostly cold wavesModerate

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