Natural hazards · Elk

Elk, ID natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Elk comes from wildfires, 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 Elk?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Elk to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from wildfires and inland flooding.

Wildfire68%Inland flooding17%Avalanches8%Landslides6%

By hazard

What Elk faces

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

Wildfire

68% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Avalanches

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Landslides

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic activity

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 Elk flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Idaho County.

Disasters that hit Elk

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ElkDeclared for Idaho County only

Idaho County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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