Natural hazards · Chinook

Chinook, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chinook comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2002. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chinook?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chinook to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding51%Cold waves40%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Chinook faces

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

Inland flooding

51% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year 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 Chinook flood?

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

2paid claims since 2002

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20022026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Blaine County.

Disasters that hit Chinook

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChinookDeclared for Blaine County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

15 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Blaine County has had 11 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. Chinook 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 Chinook’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Chinook. 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.