Natural hazards · Frenchtown

Frenchtown, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Frenchtown comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Frenchtown?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Frenchtown to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and inland flooding.

Avalanches67%Inland flooding15%Wildfire8%Cold waves6%Everything else4%

By hazard

What Frenchtown faces

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

Avalanches

67% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 0% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

8% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

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 Frenchtown flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Missoula County.

Disasters that hit Frenchtown

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FrenchtownDeclared for Missoula County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid

Missoula County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

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. Frenchtown 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 Frenchtown’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Frenchtown. 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.