FEMA Records
7
Low volume
Montana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Prairie County, MT
7 FEMA disaster declarations (1997-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 7
- FEMA declarations
- 5
- Major disasters
- 4
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Prairie County: 7 FEMA declaration records are 36% below the Montana county mean, even though the count is higher than 4% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks safer than 4%.
- Safer than 4%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 7
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 2
- biological declarations, the most common hazard here
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.
How does Prairie County compare?
Prairie County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
7 4th percentile higher than 4% 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 · 2026-08-03
Prairie County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Montana county average
What does Prairie County's hazard record show?
Declaration frequency
The state comparison is the clearest context for Prairie County's moderate federal record. Its 7 declarations sit 36% below the Montana county mean, with 5 Major Disaster entries among them. 2 records concern Severe Storm, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 23 years, the registry rate is 0.3 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits at the very bottom of FEMA's National Risk Index nationally, a composite score of 4.2/100 (rated Very Low). Projected losses are minimal, Expected Annual Loss reads Very Low (roughly $2.2M in annualized losses), and the county's exposure is shaped by a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile and Very Low community resilience. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Cold Wave, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 12 times per year here, based on 227 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
No paid-claim row for this county appears in the NFIP county table used by PlainHazard. That absence is not evidence that flooding never occurred: the register observes claims under federal flood-insurance policies, not uninsured losses, emergency reports, or every flood outside the program. The FEMA declaration history below is therefore the available federal-action record on this page.
Start with the state benchmark: a Montana county averages 11.0 federal declaration records, while Prairie County has 7. The gap is 36% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
44 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Prairie 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) Low
5/30
7 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
8/25
7 declarations (0.6x state county average of 11)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
5 of 7 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Prairie County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
Moderate
vs. Montana Avg
-36%
State avg: 11.0
vs. National Avg
-66%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 23 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Prairie 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
4
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Prairie 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 Low | an average of 12 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 379 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 18 times per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 42 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 29 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 7,874 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Flood 1
Hurricane 1
Fire 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Prairie County's record, 29% 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 - 5 71.4%
of all 7 declarations
Emergency - 2 28.6%
of all 7 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 7 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 7 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4508 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3476 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4172 | ICE JAMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-04-17 |
| 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 |
| 1183 | SEVERE STORMS,ICE JAMS, SNOW MELT, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-07-25 |
Storm Events in Montana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Prairie 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
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 4.2/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$2.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Ice Storm 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 Prairie County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), 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
Prairie County's closest FEMA peer: Johnson County, WY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Prairie County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Prairie County shows 7 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Prairie County: 5 of 7 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Prairie County: NRI composite 4.2 (Very 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 Prairie County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
FEMA's National Risk Index flags Cold Wave as the top modeled exposure here (Relatively Low); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Prairie County?
The most common disaster type in Prairie County is Severe Storm, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Flood (1), Hurricane (1).
How does Prairie County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Montana average?
The typical Montana county has 11.0 FEMA declaration records; Prairie County has 7, or 36% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 66% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Prairie County received?
Prairie County has received 5 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 7 disaster declarations.
What was the worst year for disasters in Prairie County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Prairie County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1997 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Prairie County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Prairie County, Montana has an overall risk score of 4.2 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $2.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Prairie County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Prairie County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Very Low) and Winter Weather (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 227 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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.
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.
What this means for Prairie County
Against a Montana county mean of 11 declarations, Prairie County, MT records 7, or 36% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (5 of 7) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Montana overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 4% of recorded county totals, but its own Montana benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- With no NFIP county row, the declaration register and modeled NRI remain distinct evidence rather than substitutes for a claims history. Disaster-data guide
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.