Natural hazards · Choteau

Choteau, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Choteau comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1991.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Choteau?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Choteau to be higher than in 65% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding50%Cold waves21%Avalanches16%Wildfire5%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Choteau faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Avalanches

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Wildfire

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% 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 Choteau flood?

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

3paid claims since 1991

$2Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19912026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Teton County.

Disasters that hit Choteau

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ChoteauDeclared for Teton County only

Teton County has had 10 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Choteau 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 Choteau’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Choteau. 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.