FEMA expects more hazard damage per building in Lazy Mountain than in 91% of U.S. towns, mostly from earthquakes
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lazy Mountain gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is earthquakes (88%), then river and rain flooding (10%). 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 Lazy Mountain 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 Lazy Mountain’s grade
Earthquakes are 88% of the building damage FEMA expects in Lazy Mountain, and Lazy Mountain’s rate of earthquakes damage is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 1%, at a rate in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Lazy Mountain’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $5.3M a year in losses across Lazy Mountain: $1.1M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Lazy Mountain flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Lazy Mountain. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Lazy Mountain 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 Lazy Mountain remembers
None of the 14 disasters declared for Matanuska-Susitna Borough shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Lazy Mountain 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.
Lazy Mountain and its neighbors
Lazy Mountain is 2nd of the 2 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Hazard risk | Mostly (buildings) | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butte | Dmore damage than 91% | earthquakes | 9 |
| Lazy Mountain | Dmore damage than 91% | earthquakes | 0 |
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 Lazy Mountain 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 Lazy Mountain
Is Lazy Mountain at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Lazy Mountain has higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is earthquakes (88%) and river and rain flooding (10%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Lazy Mountain 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 Lazy Mountain?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Lazy Mountain’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Lazy Mountain at risk from earthquakes?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (88%), and Lazy Mountain’s rate for it is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Lazy Mountain.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Lazy Mountain’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.