Natural hazards · Billings

Billings, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Billings comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 56 claims here since 1978. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Billings?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Billings to be higher than in 17% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding48%Cold waves35%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Billings faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 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 Billings flood?

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

56paid claims since 1978

$372Kpaid to owners

6homes flooded more than once

19782026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yellowstone County.

Disasters that hit Billings

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BillingsDeclared for Yellowstone County only

2022

Severe Storm and Flooding

58 households applied for aid $82K aid approved $3.1M to the City of Billings for repairs

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

140 households applied for aid $206K aid approved $163K to the City of Billings for repairs

Yellowstone County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Billings covers 20 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Billings’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Billings. 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 Billings total about $25.9M 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.