Disaster Data / States / Montana / Dawson County

County

Dawson County, Montana

Dawson County recorded 6 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 2 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 8 in all. Its most common hazard is flood.

Highlighted: Dawson County, MT

Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

6
Major disasters
2
Emergency declarations
0
Fire management grants
8
All declarations on record
Apr 2026
Most recent
$1.5M
Federal PA obligated (top: roads and bridges)

The federal disaster record for Dawson County runs between 2005 and 2026, covering 8 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds in 2026. The hazards behind these declarations were most often flood, biological, and severe storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $1.5 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for roads and bridges.

Past 12 months

Recent declarations and aid so far

Dawson County has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Dawson County to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.

DeclarationDeclaredHouseholds approvedIndividual AssistancePublic Assistance obligated
DR-4902-MTMajor disaster · Straight-Line WindsApr 7, 2026Incident period Dec 17 to 18, 2025None reportedNone reportedNone reported yet

Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 30021
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
7.6
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 7.6% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status1.2
Household characteristics14.7
Racial and ethnic minority status22.9
Housing type and transportation44.1

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
63.8
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$21.4MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability51.3Relatively Moderate
Community resilience42.5Relatively Moderate

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance obligated

$1M has been obligated to Dawson County in Public Assistance since FY2000.

$1M followed major disasters other than COVID-19.

Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Roads and bridges(C)19$886,653
Water control facilities(D)2$523,544
Buildings and equipment(E)1$42,942
Utilities(F)1$17,143
Emergency protective measures(B)2$11,910
All categories25$1,482,192

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 6-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 56 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Flooding 2013$67K
58 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms And Flooding 2011$1.4M
54 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

14
valid registrations
9
households approved
$60,196
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Other needs$60,196

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

1
state declarations with local storm evidence
16
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Montana: 2021-present dated Gianforte-era gov.mt.gov listing; Bullock (2013-2020) and Schweitzer (2005-2013) archives exist but are undated-in-listing / unparsed, backfill pending

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Sep 14, 202411-2024Declaring a Disaster to Exist in the City of Hamilton and the Town of Stevensville in Ravalli County in the State of MontanaHail, Thunderstorm WindNot reported

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

Most common hazards

Every declaration on record

Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.

Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.

Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.

Showing 8 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Apr 7, 2026DR-4902-MTDRStraight-Line WindsSevere Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds
Aug 13, 2021DR-4608-MTDROtherStraight-Line Winds
Mar 31, 2020DR-4508-MTDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3476-MTEMBiologicalCovid-19
Apr 17, 2014DR-4172-MTDRFloodIce Jams And Flooding
Jul 10, 2013DR-4127-MTDRFloodFlooding
Jun 17, 2011DR-1996-MTDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Sep 13, 2005EM-3253-MTEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
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How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Montana's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

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