Natural hazards · Shepherd

Shepherd, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shepherd comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is 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 Shepherd?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shepherd to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding44%Cold waves30%Wildfire13%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Shepherd faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Wildfire

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Shepherd flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yellowstone County.

Disasters that hit Shepherd

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ShepherdDeclared for Yellowstone County only

2022

Severe Storm and Flooding

2 households applied for aid

Yellowstone County has had 12 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. Shepherd 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 Shepherd’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shepherd. 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.