FEMA Records
13
Low volume
Montana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Valley County, MT
13 FEMA disaster declarations (1986-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 13
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 36
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Valley 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 36%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 36%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 13
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 250
- 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 30105 · Valley County 13 declarations · rank 2630/3,266
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 #2,630
- PHOTO-FINISH Clarke
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- 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
Valley County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Valley 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
- Valley · this county 13
Valley · this county
13 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Valley County carries 13 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2630 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Valley County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Valley County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Valley 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
Valley County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Valley County is led by Cold Wave (about $5.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Hail carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Valley County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 250 paid claims, totaling $1.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $6.1K 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. Valley 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 35.9/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $11.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hail carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.4 times per year here, based on 53 historical events on record.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Valley 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 Valley County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Valley 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
36
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Valley 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 19 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 19 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,186 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 37 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | an average of 3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,740 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 26 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 2 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
Flood 6
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Straight-Line Winds 1
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Valley County's record, 46% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 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 |
| 4726 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2023-08-12 |
| 4508 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3476 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4437 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-05-24 |
| 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 |
| 1183 | SEVERE STORMS,ICE JAMS, SNOW MELT, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-07-25 |
| 777 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
| 761 | HEAVY RAINS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-03-15 |
Storm Events in Montana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Valley 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
250
Total Paid
$1.5M
Avg Per Claim
$6.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 35.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$11.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Lightning Very Low
Tornado 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
Worth noting for Valley County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
Valley County's closest FEMA peer: Antelope County, NE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Valley County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Valley County shows 13 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Valley County: 11 of 13 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Valley County: NRI composite 35.9 (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 Valley County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Valley 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: 35.9 (Very 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
Valley County's NFIP claims file (250 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 Valley County?
The most common disaster type in Valley County is Flood, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Biological (2), Straight-Line Winds (1).
How does Valley County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Montana average?
FEMA lists 13 declaration records for Valley 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 Valley County received?
Valley County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 85% of all 13 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Valley County filed?
Valley County has 250 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.5M in payments, with an average of $6.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Valley County?
No. In Valley County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Cold Wave leads Expected Annual Loss at about $5.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Valley County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Valley County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1986 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Valley County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Valley County, Montana has an overall risk score of 35.9 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $11.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Valley County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Valley County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 1.4 times per year, drawn from 53 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 Valley County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Montana profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events