Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domainStorms, floods and disasters in Nulato
Nulato isn’t graded for hazard risk: Nulato has 255 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Nulato 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 Nulato flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Nulato. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Nulato 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.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Nulato
Disasters that paid out in Nulato itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Nulato), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2006Snow Melt and Ice Jam Flooding$21K to the City of Nulato for repairs
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 Nulato after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Nulato archive →Get ready for what Nulato 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 Nulato
Is Nulato 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 Nulato?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Nulato’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 Nulato?
By FEMA money that reached Nulato, Snow Melt and Ice Jam Flooding (2006): $21K to the City of Nulato for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Nulato.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Nulato’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.