A new map plotting deaths that are a result of forces of nature reveals where the most deadly places to live are located.
People living in the South along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have a higher likelihood of dying from a natural disaster as compared to residents in the Great Lakes area and the Northeast.
This map shows that everyday hazards like severe winter and summer weather and heat are responsible for the majority of natural hazard deaths in the United States.
The South has a high mortality from natural hazards. Other high risk areas include the northern Great Plains region where heat and drought were the biggest killers and the Rocky Mountain region with winter weather and floods as top killers. The south-central United States is also a dangerous area with floods and tornadoes posing the greatest threats.
Natural Disasters Include:
- Heat/drought: caused 19.6 % of total deaths due to natural hazards
- Severe summer weather: 18.8 %
- Winter weather: 18.1 %
- Flooding: 14 %
- Tornadoes: 11.6 %
- Lightning: 11.3 %
- Earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes: less than 5 %
- Storm surge, rip currents and coastal erosion: 2.3 %
People and officials tend to be more prepared for big hurricanes and tornadoes, which could partly explain the lower mortality from these storms compared with everyday occurrences. Overall nearly 20,000 people died due to natural hazards.
For comparison, here are the top five causes of U.S. deaths in 2005:
- Heart disease: 652,091 deaths
- Cancer: 559,312
- Stroke: 143,579
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 130,933
- Accidents: 117,809
