Natural hazards · Libby

Libby, MN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Libby comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 36 claims here since 1979.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Libby?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Libby to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding71%Cold waves21%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Libby faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Libby flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Libby, from FEMA’s records.

36paid claims since 1979

$492Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Severe flooding: 5 claims, $18K
Not a named storm: 1 claim, $871

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Libby isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Aitkin County.

Disasters that hit Libby

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Aitkin County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Libby itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into LibbyDeclared for Aitkin County only

Aitkin County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Libby

Libby and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Libbymostly inland floodingVery high

Verdonmostly inland floodingVery high

Turnermostly inland floodingVery high

Workmanmostly inland floodingVery high

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Libby covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Libby’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Libby. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Libby total about $2.6M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.