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Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Montana

Montana has 586 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 56 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Missoula County leads with 20 declarations, followed by Lewis and Clark County and Powell County.

This ranking shows every county in Montana ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

Montana ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Missoula County20Fire19742024
2Lewis and Clark County16Fire19752024
3Powell County16Fire19752025
4Musselshell County15Fire19772023
5Sanders County15Fire19742025
6Stillwater County15Fire19782023
7Flathead County14Fire19742022
8Rosebud County14Fire19782021
9Yellowstone County14Fire19782022
10Hill County13Severe Storm19862024
11Park County13Flood19962023
12Pondera County13Flood19752024
13Blaine County12Flood19862024
14Carbon County12Flood19782023
15Garfield County12Fire19862023
16Lincoln County12Fire19742025
17Petroleum County12Flood19862024
18Ravalli County12Fire19962020
19Toole County12Severe Storm19752024
20Valley County12Flood19862023
21Broadwater County11Fire19752024
22Glacier County11Flood19742020
23Jefferson County11Fire19752020
24Powder River County11Fire19782020
25Teton County11Severe Storm19752024
26Treasure County11Flood19782023
27Chouteau County10Severe Storm19862024
28Deer Lodge County10Severe Storm19742020
29Fergus County10Flood19752024
30Liberty County10Severe Storm19862020
31Meagher County10Severe Storm19752020
32Custer County9Biological20002020
33Dawson County9Flood19862021
34Gallatin County9Fire19812020
35Golden Valley County9Flood19772023
36McCone County9Flood19862021
37Mineral County9Fire19742020
38Phillips County9Flood19862023
39Sweet Grass County9Fire19972022
40Wheatland County9Severe Storm19752024
41Big Horn County8Biological19782021
42Carter County8Severe Storm20002020
43Daniels County8Flood19862023
44Fallon County8Severe Storm20002020
45Granite County8Biological19812020
46Judith Basin County8Severe Storm19752024
47Richland County8Severe Storm19972021
48Roosevelt County8Severe Storm19972023
49Cascade County7Biological19752020
50Lake County7Biological20002020
51Madison County7Biological19972020
52Prairie County7Biological19972020
53Silver Bow County7Biological19812020
54Sheridan County6Biological20002023
55Beaverhead County5Biological20002020
56Wibaux County5Biological20002020