83 flood insurance claims·$669,291 paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Coastal flooding and standard flood events dominate the flood profile of Kenai Peninsula Borough, driven by a combination of general floods (15 events), coastal floods (8 events), and storm surge or tide events (5 events) recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent historical impacts include a coastal flood event in November 2023 driven by strong winds and high seas, as well as a November 2024 coastal flood caused by strong winds along the Cook Inlet wedged between a Gulf of Alaska low-pressure system and a Bering Sea ridge.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across various zones, with the highest claim volume concentrated in Zone A with 47 claims averaging $11,932 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_UNSHADED (12 claims, averaging $15,285 and an average water depth of 27 inches), Zone X (11 claims, averaging $15,035 and an average water depth of 15 inches), and Zone D (10 claims, averaging $10,315 and an average water depth of 30 inches).
Coastal property owners and residents in designated flood zones should pay the closest attention to local flood risks, given the historical frequency of coastal flooding and the recorded payouts and water depths across both high-risk and unshaded zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
22% of Kenai Peninsula Borough’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
60 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 10 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2012, with 23 claims and $98,514 paid, the year of Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
4 NOAA storm reports from Kenai Peninsula Borough describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alaska flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1986, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Landslide | May 7, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Oct 29, 2021 |
| Earthquake | Nov 30, 2018 |
| Severe Storm | Dec 4, 2017 |
| Card Street Fire | Jun 15, 2015 |
| Flooding | Oct 27, 2013 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Landslides | Sep 15, 2012 |
| Severe Storm | Nov 15, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 15 river or area floods and 13 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Coastal Flood | Nov 16, 2024 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Nov 14, 2023 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jul 23, 2022 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Nov 1, 2022 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Dec 8, 2021 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Dec 24, 2015 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Dec 27, 2014 | — |
| Coastal Flood | Feb 24, 2009 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Coastal Flood · Nov 16, 2024. An area of strong winds developed along the Cook��Inlet Saturday, November 16 and Sunday, November 17, 2024, wedged between a Gulf of��Alaska low pressure system centered just south of Prince William Sound, and a ridge of high��pressure over the Bering Sea. In two unique regions of the Cook Inlet, local winds were enhanced by a disturbance��within this flow aloft��as it crossed the Alaska Range…
Coastal Flood · Nov 14, 2023. A strong low developed to the west of the Aleutian Chain late on the evening of November 13th and moved into the western Bering Sea, eventually moving east into the western coastline of Mainland Alaska by the afternoon of November 15th. Strong winds gusting as high as 77 mph affected portions of the central Aleutians as the low moved to the north while even stronger winds and seas up to 40 feet between the Pribil…
Storm Surge/Tide · Jul 23, 2022. A low pressure moving through the Bering brought increased surf to the Bristol Bay coastline. A tight pressure gradient due to the low brought gusty winds and helped to push the water towards the coastline raising the water levels.
Coastal Flood · Nov 1, 2022. A frontal system tracking east across the Bering Sea at the tail end of October reached the Southwest Alaska as a new low developed along the boundary between November 1st and 2nd and strengthened up until moving ashore near the Kuskokwim Delta. This system brought a multitude of impacts to portions of the region as it headed inland, ranging from minor coastal flooding due to strong onshore winds in portions of B…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Kenai Peninsula Borough is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.