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Los Angeles County Ranked Highest Risk For Natural Disasters In Nation By FEMA

Los Angeles County tops the list of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) very first National Risk Index, which ranks all 3,006 counties in the United States based on their vulnerability to 18 kinds of natural disasters.

From tornadoes and hurricanes to avalanches and wildfires, all forms of natural disasters are not only measured by the potential damage they might cause, but by how prepared a county is to respond to the damage and recover.

With a combination of earthquakes, wildfires, drought and heat waves Southern California in general ranked highly, but Los Angeles County was catapulted to the top by additional variables such as the size of the county’s population, how socially vulnerable the population is, and how adequately an area can go back to normal.

One of the local wildfires that was factored into calculations by the National Risk Index was the impact of the Lake Fire, which burned in the Angeles National Forest just north of Santa Clarita from mid-August through late September of 2020, decimating homes and properties.

See Related: Lake Hughes Community Rallies To Support Families That Have Lost Homes To Lake Fire

With a population of just under 10 million people, the size of Los Angeles makes it a primary target for natural disasters with a large number of people affected.

Other SoCal counties that made it to the top ten include Riverside County at No. 7 and San Bernardino County at No. 9.

Although COVID-19 was not a factor in this year’s ranking, Los Angeles is considered one of the epicenters for the virus, currently leading the nation in both cumulative cases and total deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracking data.

To learn more, visit the National Risk Index website.

santa clarita fema assessment 010720

Photo courtesy of FEMA


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Los Angeles County Ranked Highest Risk For Natural Disasters In Nation By FEMA

2 comments

  1. Why no names of streets on map?! The big names are from 40 years ago—nobody uses those!

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About Jade Aubuchon

A Santa Clarita native, Jade has spent her whole life involved in community outreach. After graduating from Learning Post High in 2015, she went on to College of the Canyons to pursue a double major in English and Marketing. Jade spent several years as a ballroom dance performer for a local studio and has performed at public and private events throughout Santa Clarita. As KHTS Co-News Director Jade oversees the KHTS news team, which covers all the latest news impacting Santa Clarita. Along with covering and writing her own news stories, Jade can be heard broadcasting the daily local news every weekday morning and afternoon drive-time twice an hour on KHTS 98.1FM and AM-1220. Jade is also instrumental in reporting on-the-scene local emergencies, covering them on-air and via Facebook Live and YouTube. Another dimension to Jade’s on-air skills and writing are her regular political and celebrity interviews, including her bi-monthly interview with our Congressman Mike Garcia and many other local politicians and community leaders.