2 flood insurance claims·$6,500 paid·3 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Broadwater County, Montana. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
2 NOAA storm reports from Broadwater County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Montana flood stories →
11 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Horse Gulch Fire | Jul 9, 2024 |
| Ice Jams And Flooding | Mar 1, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Mt - Central Zone 3b Fire Complex | Jul 24, 2000 |
| Wildfires | Jul 13, 2000 |
| Severe Storms,ice Jams, Snow Melt, Flooding | Mar 1, 1997 |
| Severe Storms & Flooding | May 27, 1981 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
5 since 1996: 2 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2023 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Jun 20, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 12, 2013 | — |
| Flood | Jun 7, 2011 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 10, 2023. Several rounds of rain and thunderstorms affected much of Montana during the first half of June. Flash flooding occurred across portions of the region, especially across Fergus County as well as the Rocky Mountains. Fergus County was hit exceptionally hard as several days of occasional heavy rain exasperated area creeks and streams. Casino Creek, located south of Lewistown, was washed out in at least two locations…
Flood · Jun 20, 2018. A slow-moving low pressure system accompanied by unusually-large amounts of moisture affected Montana on the 16th through 19th of June. This system resulted in widespread steady to heavy rainfall across southwest and north-central Montana. The highest rain totals were concentrated along the Rocky Mountain Front, where up to about 8-inches of storm-total rainfall were recorded and resulted from northeasterly to eas…
Flood · Mar 10, 2018. Moderating temperatures led to snowmelt flooding in many valleys of Broadwater County toward the middle of March.
Flash Flood · Jun 12, 2013. A broad area of moisture and an embedded shortwave trof moved northeastward through Central Idaho bringing widespread strong thunderstorms, as well as scattered severe storms, to Central Montana. The only area that escaped the strong storms was the Northern and Southern Rocky Mountain Fronts as the best severe weather parameters lined up over southwest and central Montana counties. Storm activity gradually decreas…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Broadwater County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.