Storms, floods and disasters in Circle
Circle isn’t graded for hazard risk: Circle has 54 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Circle faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
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. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). 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.
Does Circle flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Circle. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Circle isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Circle
Disasters that paid out in Circle itself (aid to households or repair grants to Circle), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2023Flooding30 households applied for aid$500K aid approved
- 2013Flooding26 households applied for aid$275K aid approved
- 2009Flooding and Ice Jams21 households applied for aid$124K aid approved
Its 2 counties have had 14 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms.
Also 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in its 2 counties, 2006–2025.
Old photos of Circle after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Circle archive →Get ready for what Circle faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Circle
Is Circle 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 Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, 2.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Circle?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Circle’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Circle?
By FEMA money that reached Circle, Flooding (2023): 30 households applied for aid, $500K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Circle.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Circle’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.