Flathead County, Montana: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Flathead County, Montana has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 86.5 out of 100, higher than about 86% of US counties, with avalanches, landslides and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $75 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Flathead County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4902-MT (Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, declared 7 April 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Flathead County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 104,238 Buildings worth $24 billion Area 5,309 sq mi Risk rank in Montana 1 of 56 FIPS 30029
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | Very High | 98.5 | $8.6 million | about once every 2.0 years | 15 |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 97.3 | $417,420 | about 4.2 a year | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 95.8 | $21 million | about once every 33 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 95.5 | $4.8 million | about once every 301 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 95.1 | $14 million | about 4.2 a year | 80 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 94.0 | $725,045 | about 5 a year | 949 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 79.8 | $24 million | about once a year | 28 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 69.5 | $263,614 | about once every 67 years | 1 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 58.9 | $391,785 | about 21 a year | 145,119 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 57.2 | $631,988 | about 1.3 a year | 17 |
| Drought | Very Low | 24.5 | $13,696 | about 36 a year | 1,162 |
| Hail | Very Low | 21.9 | $96,397 | about once every 3.1 years | 12 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 14.7 | $146,448 | about once every 5.7 years | 7 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 4.6 | $19,423 | about once every 14 years | 4 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Hurricane | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 13
Most common: Fire 5, Flood 3, Severe Storm 3, Straight-Line Winds 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2000s | 6 | Fire ×5, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 2 | Straight-Line Winds, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Flathead County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3253-MT): 56 Montana counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2011, DR-1996-MT): 49 Montana counties designated.
- Wildfires (2000, DR-1340-MT): 48 Montana counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Montana also had 18 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 4
| Tornadoes touching the county | 4 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F0 ×4 |
| Peak month | April (1) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 18 Jul 2007, EF0, 8 mi path |
| Most recent | 4 Nov 2013, EF0, 0.8 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Flathead County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flathead County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 86.5 | Avalanche |
| Lake County | 72 km | Relatively Low | 67.7 | Winter weather |
| Glacier County | 90 km | Relatively Low | 51.5 | Cold wave |
| Lincoln County | 104 km | Relatively Low | 64.3 | Wildfire |
| Sanders County | 106 km | Relatively Low | 47.4 | Landslide |
| Pondera County | 135 km | Very Low | 24.6 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Montana, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 15.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 46.3 |
| Community risk factor | 0.85 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $75 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Flathead County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Montana · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Avalanche: Official warnings now
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Flathead County
What natural disasters is Flathead County, Montana most at risk from?
Flathead County, Montana has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 86.5 out of 100, higher than about 86% of US counties, with avalanches, landslides and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $75 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Flathead County had?
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Flathead County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4902-MT (Severe Winter Storm and Straight-Line Winds, declared 7 April 2026). Another 18 Montana declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Flathead County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Flathead County from 1950 to 2025.
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.