Natural hazards · Custer

Custer, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Custer comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Custer?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Custer to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding57%Cold waves21%Wildfire12%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Custer faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Custer flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yellowstone County.

Disasters that hit Custer

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CusterDeclared for Yellowstone County only

2022

Severe Storm and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid $1K aid approved

Yellowstone County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires 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. Custer 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 Custer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Custer. 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.