FEMA Records
13
Low volume
Montana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Blaine County, MT
13 FEMA disaster declarations (1987-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 13
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 46
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Blaine County. Its 13 FEMA declarations are 18% above the Montana county mean and exceed the count for 17% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 46%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 46%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 13
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 50
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 30005 · Blaine County 13 declarations · rank 2659/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 13
- MAJOR-HEAVY 85%
- RANK-LOWER #2,659
- PHOTO-FINISH Clarke
- NRI-LOW 46
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +18%
Nearest declaration peer: Clarke, GA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Montana state profile
Blaine County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Blaine County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Blaine · this county 13
Blaine · this county
13 declarations
- Bristol (city) · near 13
Bristol (city) · near
13 declarations
- Clarke · near 13
Clarke · near
13 declarations
- Douglas · near 13
Douglas · near
13 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Blaine County carries 13 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2659 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Blaine County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Blaine County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Blaine County
13 17th percentile higher than 17% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Blaine County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Blaine County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 50 paid claims, totaling $69.1K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $1.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Blaine County's 13 federal records stand 18% above the Montana county mean of 11.0. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 45.9/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $8.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Very Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 11 times per year here, based on 216 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Blaine County, MT · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Moderate
9/30
13 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
13 declarations (1.2x state county average of 11)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
11 of 13 declarations are major disasters (85%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Blaine County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Blaine County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
85%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
46
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Blaine County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 11 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 22 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 24 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 722 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 51 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 7,937 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 4
Flood 4
Biological 2
Straight-Line Winds 1
Hurricane 1
Fire 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Blaine County's record, 31% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 11 84.6%
of all 13 declarations
Emergency - 2 15.4%
of all 13 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 13 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 13 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4902 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Straight-Line Winds | 2026-04-07 |
| 4801 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-07-18 |
| 4726 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2023-08-12 |
| 4508 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3476 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4388 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2018-08-30 |
| 4198 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-09 |
| 4127 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-07-10 |
| 1996 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-06-17 |
| 3253 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1340 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2000-08-30 |
| 1113 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, ICE JAMS, SOIL SATURATION | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-05-16 |
| 777 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
Storm Events in Montana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Blaine County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 3,735 | 1 | 2 | $5.3M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 2,396 | 5 | 24 | $15.1M |
| Hail | 2,015 | 0 | 0 | $4.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,502 | 13 | 18 | $11.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 796 | 5 | 3 | $143.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
50
Total Paid
$69.1K
Avg Per Claim
$1.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 45.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Blaine County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Blaine County's closest FEMA peer: Todd County, SD
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Blaine County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Blaine County shows 13 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Blaine County: 11 of 13 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Blaine County: NRI composite 45.9 (Relatively Low).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Blaine County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Blaine County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 45.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 13. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Blaine County's NFIP claims file (50 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Blaine County?
The most common disaster type in Blaine County is Severe Storm, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Biological (2), Straight-Line Winds (1).
How does Blaine County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Montana average?
FEMA lists 13 declaration records for Blaine County. That is 18% above the Montana county mean of 11.0. Its count is also 37% below the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Blaine County received?
Blaine County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 85% of all 13 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Blaine County filed?
Blaine County has 50 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $69.1K in payments, with an average of $1.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Blaine County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Blaine County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1987 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Blaine County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Blaine County, Montana has an overall risk score of 45.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Blaine County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Blaine County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 11 times per year, drawn from 216 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against exposed assets and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Blaine County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Montana profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events