Natural hazards · Square Butte

Square Butte, MT natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Square Butte comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Square Butte?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Square Butte to be higher than in 26% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding43%Cold waves39%Avalanches9%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Square Butte faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Cold waves

39% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Avalanches

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 30 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Square Butte flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chouteau County.

Disasters that hit Square Butte

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Square ButteDeclared for Chouteau County only

Chouteau County has had 8 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. Square Butte 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 Square Butte’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Square Butte. 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.