Natural Disasters Hit These States Most

But it's good to be in New England
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2023 7:30 AM CDT
Natural Disasters Hit These States Most
This is a 2005 file photo of a home in Gulfport, Miss., whose resident, a Hurricane Katrina victim, seeks a visit by the State Farm insurance adjuster.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

If it seems like all you're doing lately is reading about wildfires, floods, droughts, tornadoes, mudslides, earthquakes, and on and on and on, well, you're not alone. While it might seem like natural disasters are inescapable, the folks over at WalletHub crunched some data—going back to 1980—to see which US states are the most and least prone to them. The site used two metrics: The number of disasters that have caused at least $1 billion in damage, and the loss amount per capita in each disaster. And while it might seem like a rite of summer to see footage of California wildfires, the Golden State doesn't even make the top 30 states, and there are a few surprises. Without ado, the top 10 and least 10 prone states to natural disasters:

The most prone

  1. Mississippi, 92.08
  2. Louisiana, 89.17
  3. Texas, 87.88
  4. Florida, 82.78
  5. Iowa, 81.67
  6. Kansas, 74.25
  7. Nebraska, 72.95
  8. Oklahoma, 72.74
  9. Alabama, 71.74
  10. North Carolina, 68.64

The least prone

  1. Massachusetts, 20.37
  2. Rhode Island, 20.00
  3. Vermont, 17.75
  4. Arizona, 17.19
  5. Washington, 16.81
  6. Nevada, 13.79
  7. Utah, 13.40
  8. New Hampshire, 12.37
  9. Alaska, 11.90
  10. Maine, 11.85
Read the full rankings. (Or check out other lists.)

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