Natural hazards · Great Falls

Great Falls, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Great Falls comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 53 claims here since 1978. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Great Falls?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Great Falls to be higher than in 48% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves47%Inland flooding41%Winter weather5%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Great Falls faces

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

Cold waves

47% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

41% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Winter weather

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about 45 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Great Falls flood?

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

53paid claims since 1978

$145Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 20% off flood insurance. Great Falls is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 6) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Cascade County.

Disasters that hit Great Falls

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Great FallsDeclared for Cascade County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

63 households applied for aid $54K aid approved $254K to the City of Great Falls for repairs

Cascade County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Great Falls

Great Falls and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Great Fallsmostly cold wavesModerate

Malmstrom AFBmostly cold wavesVery low

Gibson Flatsmostly cold wavesVery low

Black Eaglemostly cold wavesVery low

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. Great Falls covers 11 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Great Falls’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Great Falls. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Great Falls total about $19.3M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.