Data from New York University show the U.S. government approved six disaster declarations individually in Musselshell, Park, Treasure and Valley counties between 2011 and 2023.
Declarations open up FEMA funding, which Valley County Commissioner Paul Tweten said has been most useful for bridge reconstruction after flooding.
“Some of those bridges probably wouldn’t have been rebuilt,” Tweten said.
Tweten also said it takes months to go through the federal approvals process and they’re usually too late to address the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
Data show Valley County received more than $3 million dollars from the federal government over a dozen years of data collection. Montana landed in the middle of all the states with 15 disaster declarations. California topped the list, and Wyoming was one of the states with the fewest major events.
