Natural hazards · Deer Lodge

Deer Lodge, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Deer Lodge comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1981. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Deer Lodge?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Deer Lodge to be higher than in 20% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves40%Inland flooding34%Earthquakes10%Wildfire6%Winter weather6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Deer Lodge faces

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

Cold waves

40% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 28% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Earthquakes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Winter weather

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 45 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsHeat wavesLandslidesStrong 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 Deer Lodge flood?

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

16paid claims since 1981

$120Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19812026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Powell County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

6flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Deer Lodge

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Deer LodgeDeclared for Powell County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

12 households applied for aid $38K aid approved $62K to the City of Deer Lodge for repairs

Powell County has had 15 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. Deer Lodge 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 Deer Lodge’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Deer Lodge. 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.