Discover the most and least disaster prone states in the United States of America. Know more about them.
Natural disasters come in a variety of forms and dimensions, bearing differing impacts on different parts of the United States, varying from the most and least disaster prone states, such as interruptions in electricity in Texas, storms and flooding in Florida, and wildfires and droughts in California.
Due to the low taxes and pleasant weather, people continue to swarm to Florida and Texas.
However, everyone is concerned about climate change, and ominous reports about fires and floods predominate the daily news cycle.
Texas and Florida both have three cities on a recent list of the 15 cities with the highest growth from the Census Bureau.
However, the thought that some areas of the US might not be habitable for very long has been introduced by climate change into American culture.
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Here is a list of the most and least disaster prone states in the United States of America.
The list is based on data from three sources: a 2022 MoneyWise research on disaster-prone states, a 2023 analysis of state-by-state disaster risks by Vukovi on the Primal Survivor website, and a 2022 ranking of states by total and per-capita financial effect from natural disasters from WalletHub.
The EPA climate resilience report and the Nature Climate Change study on overpriced properties were also taken into account to get the list of the most and least disaster prone states.
Most Disaster-Prone States in America:
Texas
Texans have experienced almost every type of natural disaster imaginable, including hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, and blizzards.
According to MoneyWise, Texas saw the most significant catastrophes of any state between 1953 and 2022, totaling 368.
The most notable recent event was Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which caused over $125 billion in damages, the majority of which came from severe flooding in Texas.
Mississippi
In Mississippi, hurricanes and flooding frequently cause destruction. It is ranked as the state with the highest risk of disaster by WalletHub.
Flooding is a notorious risk in Mississippi. The Great Mississippi disaster of 1927, which flooded more than 23,000 square miles and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and evictions, is still remembered as the most disastrous river disaster in American history.
California
Despite the fact that California is renowned for its earthquakes, locals have recently avoided the dreaded Big One.
Famous earthquakes include the Loma Prieta “World Series” quake of 1989, which killed 63 people, and the Northridge quake of 1994, which claimed 57 lives and resulted in $35 billion in inflation-adjusted damage.
Florida
According to MoneyWise, Washington State has seen more significant catastrophes than Florida since 1953 while WalletHub ranks eight more states higher than Washington State in terms of disaster frequency.
Officials from Miami-Dade County predict that between 2000 and 2040, sea levels would rise by 10 to 17 inches.
The two worst and costliest hurricanes to hit Florida were Andrew in 1992 which killed 65 people and Ian in 2022 which claimed at least 160 lives.
Least Disaster Prone States in America:
Maine
Maine experiences a variety of weather with yearly snowfall ranging from 50 to 70 inches.
When it comes to the total impact of natural disasters, WalletHub puts Maine as one of the least disaster prone states among the other states. Since 1980, the only states with fewer billion dollar catastrophes are Alaska and Hawaii.
New Hampshire
WalletHub also placed New Hampshire as one of the least disaster prone states in America.
Major catastrophes are listed on a government website at a rate of one or two each year mostly due to strong storms and flooding.
Again, snow is a definite drawback here. Over the course of a 100 hour period in 1969, a powerful nor’easter poured 98 inches of rain on certain areas of New Hampshire.
Delaware
With only 10 significant disaster declarations since 2000, tiny Delaware ranks as one of the least disaster prone states that are least vulnerable to disasters in both WalletHub’s and Vukovi’s evaluations.
Delaware experiences its fair share of hurricanes that are downgraded, with rain and flooding posing a greater threat than strong winds making it one of the least disaster prone states in America.
During Hurricane Ida in 2021, hundreds of people became submerged in floodwaters. However, there haven’t been many hurricane-related deaths in Delaware that’s why it became one of the least disaster prone states.
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