Natural hazards · Chester

Chester, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chester comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1996. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chester?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chester to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves49%Inland flooding44%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Chester faces

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

Cold waves

49% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

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 Chester flood?

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

3paid claims since 1996

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19962026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Liberty County.

Disasters that hit Chester

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChesterDeclared for Liberty County only

2018

Flooding

$58K to the Town of Chester for repairs

Liberty County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Chester 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 Chester’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Chester. 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.