#15,680
Yesterday, in Resolving To Be Better Prepared In 2021, we looked at some of the reasons why, and some of the ways in which, you and your family should become better prepared in this new year. While I promote adopting an `All Hazards' approach to preparedness, it does make sense to gear your preparedness to the threats you are most likely to encounter where you live.
I live in hurricane country, but my seismic risks are practically zero, so my preparations are based on storms and power outages more than earthquakes and volcanic debris.
Knowing the risks where you live is an important first step to getting better prepared. And while there is nowhere in the country where the risks are zero, there are some places that are far more likely to experience a natural disaster than others.
Even within my own state of Florida, there is a wide range of risk (see county risk map below), ranging from the highest risk (Miami-Dade) with a score of 58.25 (Very High) to Columbia County in North Florida, with a relatively low score of 9.96.
I live in a the yellow west coast section north of Tampa, in a county with a score of 19.17, although I'm well in from the coast, which likely lowers my risk.
While ice storms, avalanches, and blizzards are off the table for me, tornadoes, hurricanes and power outages are major risks. Additionally, my county is rated as Relatively Moderate Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience, both of which are used to factor in the risks.
By clicking on any county, this interactive map provides a pop-up scrollable list of disaster risks and demographic information (as of Oct 2020) for that region.
Whether you want to look up your own risks, or find someplace a bit less risky or more resilient to move to, this interactive website will give you plenty to consider.
From the Gallery for Hazards GeoPlatform (HGP) you can choose from any of dozens of ways to look at the data, although most people will probably want to start with the interactive National Risk Index Counties (October 2020) map, described below.
Description
The National Risk Index Counties (October 2020) feature service contains county-level Risk Index, Expected Annual Loss, Social Vulnerability, and Community Resilience data.
The National Risk Index (NRI) is an online tool to help illustrate the nation’s communities most at risk of natural hazards. It leverages authoritative nationwide datasets and multiplies values for exposure, hazard frequency, and historic loss ratios to derive Expected Annual Loss for 18 natural hazards; and it combines this metric with Social Vulnerability and Community Resilience data to generate a unitless, normalized Risk Index score for every census tract and county in the United States.
The NRI incorporates data for the following natural hazards: Avalanche, Coastal Flooding, Cold Wave, Drought, Earthquake, Hail, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Ice Storm, Landslide, Lightning, Riverine Flooding, Strong Wind, Tornado, Tsunami, Volcanic Activity, Wildfire, and Winter Weather.While I live in a moderately high risk area, it pales in comparison to Southern California, where Los Angeles County ranks highest in the nation (score =100).
No matter where you live, a visit to this FEMA site could prove both enlightening, and if you act on the information, potentially lifesaving.
Highly recommended.
