Natural hazards · Miles

Miles, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Miles comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 106 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 Miles?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Miles to be higher than in 31% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves47%Inland flooding34%Strong wind6%Lightning6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Miles 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 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 57% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 Miles flood?

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

106paid claims since 1978

$374Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19782026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 15% off flood insurance. Miles is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 7) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Custer County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2homes raised above flood level

Disasters that hit Miles

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MilesDeclared for Custer County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

96 households applied for aid $113K aid approved $302K to the City of Miles for repairs

Custer County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and floods.

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. Miles covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Miles’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Miles. 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 Miles total about $3.9M 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.