Natural hazards · Poplar

Poplar, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Poplar 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 Poplar?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Poplar to be higher than in 12% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves65%Inland flooding16%Strong wind8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Poplar faces

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

Cold waves

65% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 20% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Poplar flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Roosevelt County.

Disasters that hit Poplar

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PoplarDeclared for Roosevelt County only

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

24 households applied for aid $19K aid approved $3K to the City of Poplar for repairs

Roosevelt County has had 5 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. Poplar 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 Poplar’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Poplar. 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.