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Alaska

The recorded hazard history of every county in Alaska: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Alaska has 9,701 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 30 counties, led by winter storms and snow: 1.7 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 100 deaths and 133 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $475M. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Bristol Bay, Anchorage and Denali.

FEMA lists 95 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Mukluk Fire (18 Aug 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 808 flood claims since 1978, $16M paid; 2,707 residential policies are in force.

326events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

9,701events since 19501.7 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

95disaster declarations since 1953last 18 Aug 2026

808NFIP flood claims$16M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Alaska	US
Recorded events since 1950	9,701	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	1.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	132.4	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	100	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$475M	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$30K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	2,707	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Winter4,435

Wind3,852

Flood648

Cold398

Other166

Wildfire75

Tropical52

Heat32

Hail28

Lightning8

Tornado4

Drought3

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Winter	4,435	1.5%	24
■ Wind	3,852	0.5%	—
■ Flood	648	0.4%	12
■ Cold	398	0.7%	6
■ Other	166	0.4%	57
■ Wildfire	75	0.8%	—
■ Tropical	52	0.5%	—
■ Heat	32	0.1%	1
■ Hail	28	0.0%	—
■ Lightning	8	0.0%	—
■ Tornado	4	0.0%	—
■ Drought	3	0.0%	—

Events by decade

Flood: 39Wind: 1107Winter: 235Tropical: 9Heat: 31Cold: 83Drought: 3Wildfire: 5Lightning: 3Other: 30

Hail: 18Tornado: 3Flood: 223Wind: 1586Winter: 1658Tropical: 37Heat: 1Cold: 165Wildfire: 35Lightning: 2Other: 75

Hail: 7Flood: 188Wind: 709Winter: 1294Tropical: 3Cold: 86Wildfire: 6Lightning: 2Other: 29

Hail: 3Tornado: 1Flood: 198Wind: 450Winter: 1248Tropical: 3Cold: 64Wildfire: 29Lightning: 1Other: 32

01950s01960s01970s01980s1,5451990s3,8032000s2,3242010s2,0292020s

Recorded events in Alaska by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Bristol Bay Borough	135	0	28.0	1,611.0	Winter	4	0	Very Low
Anchorage Municipality	25	0	1.5	0.9	Winter	7	81	Relatively High
Denali Borough	96	0	0.8	602.6	Wind	10	0	Very Low
Sitka City and Borough	19	0	0.7	22.6	Flood	2	6	Very Low
Kenai Peninsula Borough	87	0	0.5	14.6	Winter	21	83	Relatively Moderate
Ketchikan Gateway Borough	22	6	0.5	16.0	Wind	3	11	Very Low
Petersburg Borough	10	2	0.3	29.8	Winter	3	0	Very Low
Aleutians East Borough	4	0	0.1	11.8	Other	4	0	Very Low
Aleutians West Census Area	5	0	0.1	9.9	Other	10	0	Relatively Low
Bethel Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	45	45	Relatively Low
Chugach Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	Very Low
Copper River Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0	0	Very Low
Dillingham Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	7	0	Very Low
Fairbanks North Star Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	17	244	Relatively Moderate
Haines Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	Very Low
Hoonah-Angoon Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	2	0	Very Low
Juneau City and Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	102	Very Low
Kodiak Island Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	7	0	Relatively Low
Kusilvak Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	2	0	Relatively Low
Lake and Peninsula Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	Very Low
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	20	87	Relatively Moderate
Nome Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	12	25	Very Low
North Slope Borough	2	0	0.0	1.8	Flood	8	1	Very Low
Northwest Arctic Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	7	11	Relatively Low
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	2	0	Very Low
Skagway Municipality	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	Very Low
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	23	0	Relatively Low
Wrangell City and Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	Very Low
Yakutat City and Borough	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	3	0	Very Low
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	21	72	Relatively Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Juneau City and Borough	74	945	7.8	102	$4.9M
Matanuska-Susitna Borough	10	195	5.1	87	$2.2M
Fairbanks North Star Borough	25	563	4.4	244	$2.6M
Bethel Census Area	4	106	3.8	45	$306K
Anchorage Municipality	11	305	3.6	81	$269K
Kenai Peninsula Borough	10	288	3.5	83	$689K

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Alaska by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Fire	30
Severe Storm	25
Flood	19
Mud/Landslide	5
Earthquake	4
Other	4
Biological	2
Coastal Storm	2
Freezing	2
Winter Storm	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
18 Aug 2026	FM-5672	Fire management assistance	Fire	Mukluk Fire	1
29 May 2026	DR-4912	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Remnants Of Typhoon Halong	0
7 Apr 2026	DR-4904	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Storm	1
22 Oct 2025	DR-4893	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Remnants Of Typhoon Halong	10
6 Jul 2025	FM-5597	Fire management assistance	Fire	Nenana Ridge Complex	2
23 Jun 2025	FM-5596	Fire management assistance	Fire	Himalaya Road Fire	1
23 Jun 2025	FM-5595	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bear Creek Fire	1
15 Jan 2025	DR-4859	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm And Flooding	2
10 Jan 2025	DR-4857	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm And Flooding	0
1 Jan 2025	DR-4853	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm And Flooding	0
13 Nov 2024	DR-4846	Major disaster	Mud/Landslide	Landslides	1
16 Oct 2024	DR-4836	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	1
6 Apr 2024	DR-4767	Major disaster	Mud/Landslide	Severe Storm, Flooding, And Landslides	3
15 Mar 2024	DR-4763	Major disaster	Mud/Landslide	Severe Storm, Landslides, And Mudslides	0
23 Aug 2023	DR-4730	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	10

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Alaska by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

808 claims, 552 paid, $16M in total; 42 repetitive-loss and 3 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Alaska with flood claims (31).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1953

Questions and answers

Which Alaska counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Aleutians East (0), Aleutians West (0) and Anchorage (0), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Alaska counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Fairbanks North Star (244), Juneau (102) and Matanuska-Susitna (87) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Alaska had?

95 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 3 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Alaska compare with the national rate?

1.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 1.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.