Automated baseline from FEMA and NOAA data, release 2026-10.

Bethel Census Area, AK

Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 02050. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: No county-level plan row in FEMA data.

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Cold Wave ($6,635,727 a year), Inland Flooding ($759,399) and Wildfire ($372,225).

The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.

Download the packet

Full packet as a web page. File manifest (checksums, source versions).

Plan clock

No county-level plan row in FEMA data

What changed since your last plan

No county-level plan row in FEMA data, so there is no approval date to count from.

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

24 jurisdictions. Each row is that jurisdiction's own plan clock.

JurisdictionTypeStatusPlanApprovedExpiresDays to expirynegative = days since expiryUpdate underway
Akiak cityCityApproved, expires 2028-03-22Akiak HMP (FEMA plan 108472)2023-03-232028-03-22539
Aniak cityCityApproved, expires 2027-02-07Aniak HMP (FEMA plan 107938)2022-02-082027-02-07130
Atmautluak CDPUnincorporatedExpired on 2020-11-03Atmautluak CDP and Village MJHMP (FEMA plan 101410)2015-11-032020-11-03-2,157
Bethel cityCityApproved, expires 2031-07-19Bethel LHMP (FEMA plan 110096)2026-07-202031-07-191,753
Chefornak cityCityApproved, expires 2028-03-21Chefornak City and Village MJHMP (FEMA plan 108579)2023-03-222028-03-21538
Chuathbaluk cityCityExpired on 2023-05-07Chuathbaluk City and Village MJHMP (FEMA plan 104636)2018-05-082023-05-07-1,242
Eek cityCityExpired on 2019-09-12Eek HMP (FEMA plan 25031)2014-09-122019-09-12-2,575
Goodnews Bay cityCityExpired on 2023-05-31Goodnews Bay City and Native Village MJHMP (FEMA plan 104765)2018-06-012023-05-31-1,218
Kwethluk cityCityExpired on 2015-02-23Kwethluk HMP (FEMA plan 25078)2010-02-232015-02-23-4,237
Lower Kalskag cityCityExpired on 2018-10-30Lower Kalskag HMP (FEMA plan 25086)2013-10-302018-10-30-2,892
Mekoryuk cityCityExpired on 2020-11-05Mekoryuk HMP (FEMA plan 101498)2015-11-052020-11-05-2,155
Napakiak cityCityExpired on 2026-02-23Napakiak City and Village MJHMP (FEMA plan 107072)2021-02-242026-02-23-219FEMA tracker shows a plan in progress
Napaskiak cityCityExpired on 2019-12-30Napaskiak HMP (FEMA plan 100696)2014-12-302019-12-30-2,466
Newtok CDPOtherNo approved plan on recordnonenonenoneFEMA tracker shows a plan in progress
Nightmute cityCityExpired on 2020-12-08Nightmute HMP (FEMA plan 101412)2015-12-082020-12-08-2,122
Nunapitchuk cityCityExpired on 2023-09-13Nunapitchuck HMP (FEMA plan 105154)2018-09-142023-09-13-1,113
Quinhagak cityCityNo approved plan on recordnonenonenoneFEMA tracker shows a plan in progress
Red Devil CDPUnincorporatedExpired on 2013-09-12Red Devil HMP (FEMA plan 25118)2008-09-122013-09-12-4,766
Sleetmute CDPUnincorporatedExpired on 2019-02-14Sleetmute HMP (FEMA plan 25129)2014-02-142019-02-14-2,785
Toksook Bay cityCityExpired on 2019-10-15Toksook Bay HMP (FEMA plan 25139)2014-10-152019-10-15-2,542FEMA tracker shows a plan in progress
Tuluksak CDPUnincorporatedExpired on 2018-08-08Tuluksak HMP (FEMA plan 25140)2013-08-082018-08-08-2,975
Tuntutuliak CDPAlaska Native VillageNo approved plan on recordnonenonenoneFEMA tracker shows a plan in progress
Tununak CDPUnincorporatedExpired on 2020-11-05Tununak HMP (FEMA plan 101409)2015-11-052020-11-05-2,155
Upper Kalskag cityCityExpired on 2018-12-06Upper Kalskag HMP (FEMA plan 25143)2013-12-062018-12-06-2,855

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

What the packet contains

Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification

17 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: hurricane. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Cold Wave, Inland Flooding and Wildfire.

Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location

  • Avalanche, Earthquake, Landslide, Tornado, Tsunami, Volcanic Activity and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.
  • Coastal Flooding and Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.
  • Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent

Storm Events records for 11 of the 20 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.

Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):

  • Hail: No hail record can stand as this county's largest: the 7 records with a recorded size reached this county only through an NWS zone that covers more than one county, so the hail may have occurred outside this county (zone-level); they are counted as occurrences.
  • Thunderstorm Wind: No thunderstorm wind record can stand as this county's strongest: the 3 records with a recorded speed reached this county only through an NWS zone that covers more than one county, so the wind may have occurred outside this county (zone-level); they are counted as occurrences.
  • Tornado: No tornado record can stand as this county's worst: the 2 records reached this county only through an NWS zone that covers more than one county, so the tornado may have occurred outside this county (zone-level); they are counted as occurrences.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this area: 20 declarations covering 18 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.

No county-level plan row in FEMA data, so there is no approval date to count from.

4 statewide declarations listed separately.

Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (7 of 18).

Storm Events history: 521 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.

  • Highly likely: Lightning
  • Likely: Coastal Flooding, Cold Wave, Ice Storm, Inland Flooding, Landslide, Wildfire and Winter Weather
  • Possible: Avalanche, Tornado and Volcanic Activity
  • Unlikely: Hail and Strong Wind

Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 17 of the 18 hazards (3 tracts; rated tracts only).

24 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).

County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not jurisdictions in this plan (for example state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts

The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

No county-level plan row in FEMA data, so there is no approval date to count from.

Local data needed

To gather:

  • Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
  • A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
  • Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
  • Future assets

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)

Population 18,633; building value $2,907,755,663 and agriculture value $0 (total, not at risk).

National Risk Index rating Relatively Low; social vulnerability Very High; community resilience Relatively Low.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties

Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 0 repetitive loss, 0 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 7 and 0.

Mitigated 0; insured 1; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.

Releases

Each release is dated; this is release 2026-10. It was first published 2026-09-30; its files do not change. Later releases will be listed here with what changed between them. All releases.

Cite this

Hazard Plain (2026). Bethel Census Area, AK: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 02050). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/ak/02050/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Source citations for the plan's bibliography (8)

How this packet is built: methods and sources