Natural hazards · Helena West Side

Helena West Side, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Helena West Side comes from avalanches, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Helena West Side?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Helena West Side to be higher than in 23% of U.S. communities, mostly from avalanches and cold waves.

Avalanches36%Cold waves30%Inland flooding20%Earthquakes6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Helena West Side faces

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

Avalanches

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 37% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Helena West Side flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Helena West Side.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lewis and Clark County.

Disasters that hit Helena West Side

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Lewis and Clark County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Helena West Side itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Helena West SideDeclared for Lewis and Clark County only

Lewis and Clark County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

Around Helena West Side

Helena West Side and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Helena Valley West Centralmostly cold wavesModerate

Helena West Sidemostly avalanchesLow

Helenamostly 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. Helena West Side covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Helena West Side’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Helena West Side. 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 Helena West Side total about $1.3M 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.