Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Belt
Belt isn’t graded for hazard risk: Belt has 559 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1981.
What Belt faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Wildfire
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Belt flood? Sometimes: 10 flood claims since 1981
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Belt, from FEMA’s records.
Belt isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cascade County.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Belt
Disasters that paid out in Belt itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Belt), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2011Severe Storms and Flooding16 households applied for aid$66K aid approved$74K to the Town of Belt for repairs1 flood claim paid that year
Cascade County has had 4 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Belt after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Belt archive →Get ready for what Belt faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Belt
Does Belt flood?
Flood insurance has paid 10 claims in Belt since 1981, $63K in all.
Is Belt in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Cascade County, 12% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.7% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Belt?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Belt’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Belt?
By FEMA money that reached Belt, Severe Storms and Flooding (2011): 16 households applied for aid, $66K approved, and $74K to the Town of Belt for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Belt.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Belt’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.