Independence Mines · Photo: Switchbladesista · CC BY-SA 3.0FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Fishhook than in 90% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Fishhook gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns, #17 of 41 in Alaska. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (87%), then river and rain flooding (12%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
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
What Fishhook faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
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.
What’s behind Fishhook’s grade
Earthquakes are 87% of the building damage FEMA expects in Fishhook, and Fishhook’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 2%, at a rate in the top 9% of U.S. census tracts.
D #17 of 41 in Alaska; higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Fishhook’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical Alaska town has higher expected damage than 93% of U.S. towns; within the state, Fishhook has less expected damage per building than 60% of Alaska towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $13.9M a year in losses across Fishhook: $3.2M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Fishhook flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fishhook. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Fishhook isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Matanuska-Susitna Borough.The storms Fishhook remembers
None of the 14 disasters declared for Matanuska-Susitna Borough shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fishhook itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Matanuska-Susitna 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 2015–2019.
Fishhook and its neighbors
Fishhook has the lowest expected damage per building of the 5 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fishhook | Dmore damage than 90% | earthquakes | 0 |
| Farm Loop | Dmore damage than 93% | earthquakes | — |
| Tanaina | Dmore damage than 93% | earthquakes | 1 |
| North Lakes | D−more damage than 95% | earthquakes | 1 |
| Willow | D−more damage than 96% | earthquakes | 11 |
| Buffalo Soapstone | — | 739 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.
Get ready for what Fishhook faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- 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 Fishhook
Is Fishhook at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Fishhook has higher expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #17 of 41 in Alaska. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (87%) and river and rain flooding (12%). 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 Fishhook 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 Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 23% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.4% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Fishhook?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Fishhook’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Fishhook at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (87%), and Fishhook’s rate for it is in the top 2% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Fishhook.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Fishhook’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.