Natural hazards · Shell

Shell, WY natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Shell?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shell to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Cold waves12%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Shell faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamis

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 Shell flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Big Horn County.

Disasters that hit Shell

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Big Horn County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Shell itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ShellDeclared for Big Horn County only

Big Horn County has had 2 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. Shell 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 Shell’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Shell. 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.