Natural hazards · Challis

Challis, ID natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Challis comes from inland flooding, 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 Challis?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Challis to be higher than in 87% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and avalanches.

Inland flooding48%Avalanches29%Earthquakes9%Wildfire5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Challis faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Avalanches

29% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

9% of expected damage

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

Wildfire

5% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamis

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 Challis flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Custer County.

Disasters that hit Challis

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Custer County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Challis itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ChallisDeclared for Custer County only

Custer County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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