Natural hazards · Cascade

Cascade, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cascade comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cascade?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cascade to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding58%Cold waves17%Avalanches13%Wildfire8%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Cascade faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Avalanches

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Wildfire

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

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 Cascade flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Cascade 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.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Cascade

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CascadeDeclared for Cascade County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

2 households applied for aid $53 aid approved

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. Cascade 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 Cascade’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Cascade. 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.