Natural disasters in Montana cover a wide range of events.
Montana has its fair share of natural disasters, including floods, tornadoes and earthquakes. Other disasters include mine explosions, landslides and fires, leaving families devastated. While natural disasters have occurred more recently, this list includes the disasters most widely known.
Floods
Flood records date back to at least 1899.
Recorded natural disasters caused by flooding in Montana date back to at least 1899. Glendive and Miles City flooded because of an ice jam along the Tongue River in April 1899. Gravelly Coolee and Havre both flooded in June 1938, as did Jordan, Cohagen and Springdale. Cloudbursts brought on by storms caused the flooding in these regions.
Earthquakes
Earthquakes have caused landslides in Montana.
One of the best-known earthquake events to hit Montana occurred in West Yellowstone in 1959. Sixteen people were killed in this series of earthquakes hitting the region, and an 8,000-foot mountain crumbled, causing a landslide.
Landslides
A landslide caused part of a dam to fail in 1938.
In September 1938, a landslide caused part of a dam to fail in Fort Peck. Seven men were killed when millions of tons of dirt and rock crashed into the dam.
Tornadoes
A tornado destroyed 10 buildings in Bainville in 1933.
Bainville suffered a tornado in May 1933 that destroyed 10 buildings. Reports of a few injuries and communications breakdowns round out the damage done.
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