Natural hazards · Plentywood

Plentywood, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Plentywood comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very low 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 Plentywood?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Plentywood to be higher than in 8% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves59%Inland flooding29%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Plentywood faces

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

Cold waves

59% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 21 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 22% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Plentywood flood?

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

Disasters that hit Plentywood

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PlentywoodDeclared for Sheridan County only

2000

Severe Winter Storms

$3K to the City of Plentywood for repairs

Sheridan County has had 4 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms 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. Plentywood 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 Plentywood’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Plentywood. 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.