FEMA Records
13
Low volume
Montana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hill County, MT
13 FEMA disaster declarations (1987-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 13
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 50
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Hill 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 in the riskiest 50%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 50%
- 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
- 17
- 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 30041 · Hill County 13 declarations · rank 2685/3,266
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 #2,685
- PHOTO-FINISH Clarke
- NRI-LOW 50
- 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
Hill County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Hill County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bristol (city) · near 13
Bristol (city) · near
13 declarations
- Clarke · near 13
Clarke · near
13 declarations
- Douglas · near 13
Douglas · near
13 declarations
- Hill · this county 13
Hill · this county
13 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Hill County carries 13 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2685 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Hill County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Hill County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Hill 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
Hill County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Hill County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 50.4/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $13.2M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. 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 12 times per year here, based on 220 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 17 claims and $55.5K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Hill 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.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hill 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 High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Hill County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hill 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
50
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hill 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 12 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 22 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,892 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 22 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 54 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,783 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 5
Flood 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Fire 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Hill County's record, 38% 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 4127 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-07-10 |
| 1996 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-06-17 |
| 1922 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-10 |
| 3253 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1424 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-07-03 |
| 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 Hill 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
17
Total Paid
$55.5K
Avg Per Claim
$3.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 50.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$13.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Avalanche 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 Hill 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
Hill County's closest FEMA peer: Dunn County, WI
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hill County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Hill County shows 13 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Hill County: 11 of 13 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hill County: NRI composite 50.4 (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 Hill County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Hill 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: 50.4 (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
Most disaster-prone counties
With 13 FEMA declarations, Hill County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Hill County?
The most common disaster type in Hill County is Severe Storm, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Hill County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Montana average?
FEMA lists 13 declaration records for Hill 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 Hill County received?
Hill County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 85% of all 13 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hill County filed?
Hill County has 17 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $55.5K in payments, with an average of $3.3K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hill County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hill County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1987 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hill County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hill County, Montana has an overall risk score of 50.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $13.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hill County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Hill County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively High) and Wildfire (Very Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 220 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 Hill County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Montana profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events