Natural hazards · Carlton

Carlton, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carlton comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Carlton?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carlton to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and wildfires.

Avalanches54%Wildfire17%Inland flooding16%Cold waves10%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Carlton faces

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

Avalanches

54% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

17% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Carlton flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Carlton.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Missoula County.

Disasters that hit Carlton

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CarltonDeclared for Missoula County only

Missoula County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Carlton 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 Carlton’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Carlton. 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.