Seth Borenstein
Associated Press
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She calculated the risk of one of 18 types of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes and even tsunamis, for each of the 3,000 counties in the United States.
If we are not surprised to note the presence of Los Angeles at the top of the list, the presence of other cities at the top of the ranking may be surprising. Thus, the counties of New York and Philadelphia are considered more at risk for tornadoes than those of Kansas and Oklahoma.
The county living under the greatest threat of flooding is located in Washington State. Surprisingly, it does not overlook the ocean, even though the river that crosses it is at tide.
It must be said that the FEMA index assesses the frequency of disasters, the number of people and the quantity of property at risk, the social vulnerability of the population and the region’s ability to rebound.
As a result, the risks are higher in large cities due to the size of the poor population and the existence of expensive properties. Urban counties are often the most ill-prepared to deal with the kind of once-in-a-generation disaster.
FEMA’s Mike Grimm explains that the degree of risk represents not only the frequency of a disaster, but the seriousness of the human toll that would result.
Example: tornadoes. Two New York counties, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Hudson County, New Jersey, top FEMA’s rankings. Oklahoma County in the state of the same name, where there have been more than 120 tornadoes since 1950, including one that killed 36 people in 1999, is ranked only 120e rang.
“If the frequency of tornadoes in the first five counties is low, the potential consequences are high because of the properties that would be exposed to them,” said Susan Cutter, director of the University’s Institute for Risk and Vulnerability Research. from South Carolina. Accordingly, a small tornado can cause a large dollar loss. »
In New York, people are much less aware of the risks. So they’re less prepared, and that’s a problem, says Grimm. The day before his statement, New York issued a tornado alert. A few days later, the National Weather Service reported that several cities on the East Coast had suffered more tornadoes in 2020 than Wichita in Kansas.
In general, while Oklahoma is twice as likely to have tornadoes as New York, the potential for damage is much higher in the Big Apple because there are 20 times as many people and property values there. about 20 times higher, FEMA officials argue.
“There’s a danger in saying it won’t happen to us,” Grimm said. Just because I’ve never seen one in my life doesn’t mean it won’t happen. »
This type of denial is especially true with frequent and costly flooding, he points out. This is the reason why only 4% of the population has taken out flood insurance even though one in three people needs it.
Experts say people need to think about the big catastrophe, the one that only happens a few times at most, but is devastating when it hits. For example: Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, the 2011 tornadoes, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, or a pandemic.
“We don’t take seriously the risks that happen only rarely,” laments David Ropeik, a retired professor from Harvard University. We just don’t fear them as much as we fear the things that are more present in our awareness, more mainstream. »
FEMA’s new index “opens our eyes to the discrepancies between how we feel and what actually exists,” he says.
In addition to Los Angeles, the 10 worst places in the United States are three counties in the New York area (Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn), Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, St. Louis, Riverside and San Bernardino County, in California.
According to FEMA, Loudoun County, located in suburban Washington, is the safest location. Three other counties near the US capital have the lowest risk level, as do suburban Boston, Long Island, suburban Detroit and Pittsburgh.
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Related
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Seth Borenstein
Associated Press
–
She calculated the risk of one of 18 types of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes and even tsunamis, for each of the 3,000 counties in the United States.
If we are not surprised to note the presence of Los Angeles at the top of the list, the presence of other cities at the top of the ranking may be surprising. Thus, the counties of New York and Philadelphia are considered more at risk for tornadoes than those of Kansas and Oklahoma.
The county living under the greatest threat of flooding is located in Washington State. Surprisingly, it does not overlook the ocean, even though the river that crosses it is at tide.
It must be said that the FEMA index assesses the frequency of disasters, the number of people and the quantity of property at risk, the social vulnerability of the population and the region’s ability to rebound.
As a result, the risks are higher in large cities due to the size of the poor population and the existence of expensive properties. Urban counties are often the most ill-prepared to deal with the kind of once-in-a-generation disaster.
FEMA’s Mike Grimm explains that the degree of risk represents not only the frequency of a disaster, but the seriousness of the human toll that would result.
Example: tornadoes. Two New York counties, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Hudson County, New Jersey, top FEMA’s rankings. Oklahoma County in the state of the same name, where there have been more than 120 tornadoes since 1950, including one that killed 36 people in 1999, is ranked only 120e rang.
“If the frequency of tornadoes in the first five counties is low, the potential consequences are high because of the properties that would be exposed to them,” said Susan Cutter, director of the University’s Institute for Risk and Vulnerability Research. from South Carolina. Accordingly, a small tornado can cause a large dollar loss. »
In New York, people are much less aware of the risks. So they’re less prepared, and that’s a problem, says Grimm. The day before his statement, New York issued a tornado alert. A few days later, the National Weather Service reported that several cities on the East Coast had suffered more tornadoes in 2020 than Wichita in Kansas.
In general, while Oklahoma is twice as likely to have tornadoes as New York, the potential for damage is much higher in the Big Apple because there are 20 times as many people and property values there. about 20 times higher, FEMA officials argue.
“There’s a danger in saying it won’t happen to us,” Grimm said. Just because I’ve never seen one in my life doesn’t mean it won’t happen. »
This type of denial is especially true with frequent and costly flooding, he points out. This is the reason why only 4% of the population has taken out flood insurance even though one in three people needs it.
Experts say people need to think about the big catastrophe, the one that only happens a few times at most, but is devastating when it hits. For example: Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, the 2011 tornadoes, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, or a pandemic.
“We don’t take seriously the risks that happen only rarely,” laments David Ropeik, a retired professor from Harvard University. We just don’t fear them as much as we fear the things that are more present in our awareness, more mainstream. »
FEMA’s new index “opens our eyes to the discrepancies between how we feel and what actually exists,” he says.
In addition to Los Angeles, the 10 worst places in the United States are three counties in the New York area (Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn), Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, St. Louis, Riverside and San Bernardino County, in California.
According to FEMA, Loudoun County, located in suburban Washington, is the safest location. Three other counties near the US capital have the lowest risk level, as do suburban Boston, Long Island, suburban Detroit and Pittsburgh.
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