Natural hazards · Charlo

Charlo, MT natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Charlo?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Charlo to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and earthquakes.

Avalanches35%Earthquakes28%Cold waves17%Inland flooding13%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Charlo faces

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

Avalanches

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Cold waves

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Charlo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lake County.

Disasters that hit Charlo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into CharloDeclared for Lake County only

Lake County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

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