Natural hazards · Pocatello

Pocatello, ID natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pocatello comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2013.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pocatello?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pocatello to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding32%Cold waves29%Earthquakes12%Wildfire12%Heat waves7%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Pocatello faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 33% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Pocatello flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Pocatello, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 2013

$26Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20132026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bannock County.

Disasters that hit Pocatello

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into PocatelloDeclared for Bannock County only

Bannock County has had 3 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes 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. Pocatello covers 13 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pocatello’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pocatello. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Pocatello total about $14.3M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.