Photo: Djembayz · CC BY-SA 3.0On FEMA’s figures, Seeley Lake faces more hazard damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns, led by wildfire
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Seeley Lake gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is wildfire (47%), then river and rain flooding (42%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded
What Seeley Lake faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Wildfire
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
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.
What’s behind Seeley Lake’s grade
Wildfire is 47% of the building damage FEMA expects in Seeley Lake, and Seeley Lake’s rate of wildfire damage is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts. Next is river and rain flooding at 42% (lower than 52% of U.S. census tracts).
C− higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Seeley Lake’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.9M a year in losses across Seeley Lake: $1.0M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Seeley Lake flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Seeley Lake. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Seeley Lake isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Missoula County.The storms Seeley Lake remembers
None of the 11 disasters declared for Missoula County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Seeley Lake itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Missoula County has had 11 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.
Also 7 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Missoula County, 2000–2017.
Get ready for what Seeley Lake faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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 Seeley Lake
Is Seeley Lake at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Seeley Lake has higher expected damage per building than 78% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is wildfire (47%) and river and rain flooding (42%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Seeley Lake 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 Missoula County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.5% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Seeley Lake?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Seeley Lake’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Seeley Lake at risk from wildfire?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (47%), and Seeley Lake’s rate for it is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Seeley Lake.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Seeley Lake’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.