Natural hazards · Manhattan

Manhattan, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Manhattan comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Manhattan?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Manhattan to be higher than in 43% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes31%Inland flooding28%Cold waves25%Winter weather6%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Manhattan faces

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

Earthquakes

31% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Winter weather

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 45 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Manhattan flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Gallatin County.

Disasters that hit Manhattan

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Gallatin County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Manhattan itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ManhattanDeclared for Gallatin County only

Gallatin County has had 7 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. Manhattan 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 Manhattan’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Manhattan. 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.