Natural hazards · Montello

Montello, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Montello comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 8 claims here since 2004. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Montello?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Montello to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves38%Inland flooding36%Hail9%Tornadoes9%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Montello faces

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

Cold waves

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

36% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Montello flood?

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

8paid claims since 2004

$110Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

20042026

Biggest named events

Storm: 1 claim, $6K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Marquette County.

Disasters that hit Montello

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MontelloDeclared for Marquette County only

2018

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides

79 households applied for aid $133K aid approved $22K to the City of Montello for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

94 households applied for aid $88K aid approved $95K to the City of Montello for repairs

2004

Severe Storms and Flooding

64 households applied for aid $57K aid approved $12K to the City of Montello for repairs

Marquette County has had 7 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. Montello 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 Montello’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Montello. 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.