Since 1980, the US has seen 341 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, with damages totaling a combined $2.48 trillion. In 2022 alone, there were 18 disaster events in America that each resulted in more than $1 billion of losses — costing 474 lives overall and a combined $169.8 billion.
Some parts of the US are at higher risk of natural disasters than others, and to find out which areas are most vulnerable, Forbes Advisor analyzed the number of Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations made for each of the most populated counties over the past decade.
Key Findings:
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The county most vulnerable to natural disasters overall is Los Angeles County, California. Following behind are East Baton Rouge Parish and Orleans Parish in Louisiana, Riverside County in California and Jefferson Parish in Louisiana.
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Coastal states face the highest number of climate and weather disaster events. Of the ten most disaster-prone areas in the study, four are California counties. Three Louisiana parishes, two South Carolina counties and two counties in Florida also make the list.
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Fires and hurricanes were the most common types of disasters for the ten US counties at highest risk.
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In the decade between January 2013 and January 2023, a natural disaster was declared in 88.5 percent of all counties in America — including **95 percent **of the country's 200 most populated ones.
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Of those 200 most populated counties, just ten didn't declare a disaster over the past five years — and half of them are located in Ohio.
Via Forbes Advisor.
[Image credit: Ross Stone]
