Natural hazards · Belt

Belt, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Belt comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1981. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Belt?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Belt to be higher than in 75% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding60%Cold waves22%Avalanches8%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Belt faces

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

Inland flooding

60% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

22% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Avalanches

8% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Belt flood?

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

10paid claims since 1981

$63Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cascade County.

Disasters that hit Belt

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Belt itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Belt.

Brought FEMA money into BeltDeclared for Cascade County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

16 households applied for aid $66K aid approved $74K to the Town of Belt for repairs

Cascade County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

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. Belt is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

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

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.