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Bear Creek CDP (32807991347)Photo: Craig Talbert · CC BY 2.0
D−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Bear Creek · FEMA

FEMA puts Bear Creek’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 98% of U.S. towns, led by tsunamis

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bear Creek gets a D− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is tsunamis (49%), then earthquakes (46%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

Tsunamis 49%Earthquakes 46%River and rain flooding 4%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 98%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D−
in Alaska · higher than 98% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
Tsunamis
49% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 14 declared for Kenai Peninsula Borough
By hazard

What Bear Creek faces

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

Tsunamis

49%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts

Earthquakes

46%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 River and rain flooding Winter storms Wildfire Avalanches top 0% Coastal flooding Tornadoes Hail Ice storms Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
HurricanesStrong windCold wavesHeat wavesVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts avalanches at 46% of Bear Creek’s expected losses. Avalanches do little damage to buildings (0.1%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

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

What’s behind Bear Creek’s grade

Tsunamis are 49% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bear Creek, and Bear Creek’s rate of tsunamis damage is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts. Earthquakes add 46%, at a rate in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Bear Creek sits
Bear Creek
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D− higher expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Bear Creek’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
Tsunamis49%Earthquakes46%River and rain flooding4%Everything else0%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $9.2M a year in losses across Bear Creek: $3.4M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Bear Creek’s 2,129 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Seward city (2,717 residents) and Lowell Point CDP (79 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Bear Creek flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bear Creek. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Bear Creek isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Disasters

The storms Bear Creek remembers

None of the 14 disasters declared for Kenai Peninsula Borough shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bear Creek itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Bear CreekKenai Peninsula Borough only

Kenai Peninsula Borough has had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods.

Also 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Kenai Peninsula Borough, 2007–2015.

Next door

Bear Creek and its neighbors

Bear Creek is 2nd of the 2 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Primrose: not gradedSeward: hazard risk D−PrimroseSewardBear Creek
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
SewardD−more damage than 98%tsunamis1
Bear CreekD−more damage than 98%tsunamis0
Primrose—89 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Bear Creek faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

Tsunamis
  • Strong shaking or a sudden drop in the sea means head for high ground now.
  • Learn the tsunami route signs near the shore.
  • Stay away until officials say it’s safe.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Bear Creek

Is Bear Creek at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bear Creek has higher expected damage per building than 98% of U.S. towns: D− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is tsunamis (49%) and earthquakes (46%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Is Bear Creek in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Kenai Peninsula Borough, 61% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.8% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Bear Creek?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bear Creek’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Bear Creek at risk from tsunamis?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (49%), and Bear Creek’s rate for it is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bear Creek.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bear Creek’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.