The Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared Los Angeles County to be the most dangerous place to live in the United States because of its susceptibility to natural disasters. “The National Risk Index is a new, online mapping application from FEMA that identifies communities most at risk to 18 natural hazards,” FEMA’s website explains. “This application visualizes natural hazard risk metrics and includes data about expected annual losses, social vulnerabilities, and community resilience.”
The index accounts for 18 types of natural disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, and tsunamis. While it doesn’t account for the coronavirus, Los Angeles has been described as “ground zero” for the COVID-19.
Population density plays a major role in the index’s formula and as a result, many of its findings are quite surprising. For instance, New York City and Philadelphia rank much higher for tornado risk than the tornado alley cities Oklahoma and Kansas. The system also measures how often disasters occur, how much property is in harm’s way, and how vulnerable the population is socially.
Loudoun County, a suburb of Washington, D.C., ranks as the safest county in the country to live in.
Check out FEMA’s National Risk Index for yourself here.
