Which U.S. counties face the biggest danger from Earth’s most powerful storms?
With climate experts forecasting a “borderline hyperactive” hurricane season, Gutter Gnome ranked 2023’s Most Hurricane-Vulnerable Counties.
We combined hurricane risk assessments and financial impact projections from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with 10 years of historical storm data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
See how over 300 counties might fare this hurricane season in our ranking below. To learn how we ranked the counties, see our methodology.
If you’re also concerned about other natural disasters, check out our study on the most landslide-vulnerable counties.
Contents
- Rankings
- In the Eye of the Storm: The 5 Most Vulnerable Counties
- Key Insights
- Hurricanes By the Numbers
- Ask the Experts
- Behind the Ranking
Rankings
See how each county fared in our ranking:
In the Eye of the Storm: The 5 Most Vulnerable Counties
Check out the slideshow below for rankings on each of our five worst-performing counties.
Risk: 3
Hurricane History: 26
Financial Impact: 2
Photo Credit: Jason Dent / Unsplash / Unsplash License
Risk: 4
Hurricane History: 26
Financial Impact: 3
Photo Credit: Daniel Tobias / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Risk: 9
Hurricane History: 2
Financial Impact: 8
Photo Credit: SC National Guard / Flickr / Public Domain
Risk: 11
Hurricane History: 2
Financial Impact: 11
Photo Credit: SC National Guard / Flickr / Public Domain
Risk: 2
Hurricane History: 84
Financial Impact: 4
Photo Credit: joiseyshowaa / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Key Insights
The Big Picture
The Sunshine State might also be called the Hurricane State, as two of its counties, Broward and Palm Beach, occupy the two worst spots for hurricane risk. It's also no surprise that the Southeast has the biggest hurricane vulnerability, our ranking confirms.
In fact, the 10% most susceptible counties are made up almost entirely of only three states: Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Chatham County, Georgia (No. 8), and Harris County, Texas (No. 13), are the lone exceptions in this group.
Conversely, much of New England and the Texas coast are the calmest regions. Hurricanes tend to be rare in these areas and therefore face low risk of physical and monetary damages.
Stormy Stats
Calm Before the Storm
- Although most hurricane-vulnerable counties display equally high risk and history of hurricane activity and financial loss, some counties buck this trend. They include counties like Florence, South Carolina (No. 17), and Columbus, North Carolina (No. 22), which are rated more moderately in terms of risk by FEMA but have experienced significantly more hurricanes over the past decade.
All Quiet on the Southern Front
- Some counties synonymous with hurricane disasters didn’t rank as high — more vulnerable, that is — despite very high risk of storms and loss. Lee County, Florida (No. 36), for instance, was devastated by Hurricane Ian in 2022. Apart from one other Category 5, Irma in 2017, Lee County has had a relatively calm decade. Likewise, Orleans Parish, Louisiana (No. 61), was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. That was back in 2005 — the past 10 years have been more peaceful.
Inland ≠ Immune
- While some counties might be farther from the coast, they are not necessarily safe from hurricanes or their effects. Richland County, South Carolina (No. 112 overall), and Wake County, North Carolina (No. 93), for instance, both lie more than 100 miles from the Atlantic Coast but show above-average risk and active hurricane histories. Typical hurricanes cover an area of about 100 miles but can be as wide as 300 miles.
When It Rains, It Pours
- Although hurricanes are rare in the Middle Texas Coast, some arrive with intense force. When Hurricane Harvey crossed over the area in 2017, a record 1 trillion gallons of water fell over Harris County over four days. This is why Harris County received the highest risk assessment and financial loss estimate — from separate research entities — despite a relatively quiet decade. Prior to Harvey, Celia was the last major hurricane to hit the area — in 1970.
Costliest Counties
- Of the 10 counties with the highest expected annual financial loss from hurricanes, eight are in Florida. Collectively, those eight counties represent over $4.3 billion of losses, though actual losses often are significantly higher. Harris County, Texas (No. 13 overall) — covering Houston, the fourth largest U.S. metro area — and Charleston County, South Carolina (No. 3), make up the other two counties. Harris County leads this entire group and represents potential losses greater than $1.1 billion.
Categorically Catastrophic
- Over the past decade, four states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina — each have been hit or affected by four Category 5 hurricanes between 2013 and 2022, the most among all the counties we ranked. However, only one Georgia county, Chatham (No. 8 overall), was effectively impacted by a Category 5 storm.
Geographic Differences
- Honolulu County, Hawaii (No. 53 overall), is the only Pacific county in our ranking and registered the most hurricane activity, with 12 in the past 10 years. In this region, hurricanes — as tropical cyclones are known on the Atlantic Coast — are called “typhoons.” They are the same weather phenomenon.
Hurricanes by the Numbers
Ask The Experts
Hurricanes can cause catastrophic personal and financial damage. We turned to a panel of experts for advice on preparing for a hurricane and dealing with its aftermath. Read their thoughts below.
- Who is most at risk for financial and emotional distress from hurricanes?
- What are the three best resources for disaster relief?
- What are the top three ways to prepare for a severe hurricane?
- What are the three best ways to help those who were affected by a hurricane?
- How can local governments best prepare for increasingly intensifying hurricanes in the U.S.?
Who is most at risk for financial and emotional distress from hurricanes?
Those who are living in poverty or are in lower income brackets [are most at risk] because the cost of evacuating and any recovery cost makes these communities highly vulnerable.
Resilience is extremely difficult for these communities. Black and Hispanic communities have a higher risk because of historical policies and practices.
What are the three best resources for disaster relief?
1. FEMA — Federal Emergency Management Agency
2. Red Cross
3. Local organizations and nonprofits
What are the top three ways to prepare for a severe hurricane?
- If it is severe, you should evacuate. However, the key is to know beforehand where valuables are kept in the event of evacuation.
- Keep phone contacts and other important documents in a ziplock bag in the event of flooding.
- Have a hurricane plan in place now.
What are the three best ways to help those who were affected by a hurricane?
- Determine their emotional, physical, and mental needs — and if they know where family members are located.
- Help them to get through the short-term stress and shock from the loss of property and life.
- Help them to find resources to address immediate and short-term needs.
How can local governments best prepare for increasingly intensifying hurricanes in the U.S.?
- Message the community about the power, typical damage of hurricanes, and why evacuation is required.
- Help them to prepare hurricane kits and identify important documents.
- Provide some guidance about how to evacuate and the needed resources for evacuation.
What are the top three ways to prepare for a severe hurricane?
I would begin with the basics:
1. Know if you are in an evacuation zone and have a route planned along with keeping all your important documents together to take with you or keep in a safe place that will not be underwater in your house.
2. Have supplies, food, water, and medications on hand to last several days to two weeks without power. This includes taking care of animals as well.
3. Have a way to get weather alerts from a trusted source such as hurricanes.gov or weather.gov and stay updated on the conditions. Determine and stay in a safe location and be prepared to adhere to the instructions and advice of local officials.
What are the three best ways to help those who were affected by a hurricane?
1. Often it is the basics that are required after a hurricane affects an area: shelter, water, ice, and food that will not go bad in unrefrigerated conditions.
2. They are likely to need assistance clearing the area safely and not over-exerting themselves and staying cool in the process as best you can.
3. Finally, a lot of people are shocked by what took place and need someone to listen and help them according to what you learned from hearing their talking points.
How can local governments best prepare for increasingly intensifying hurricanes?
Mitigate the impacts wherever possible. If a coastal community perhaps setback laws and restrictions and had post-evacuation routes and shelters that are tested and stocked with food and equipment to house evacuees are some ways [to prepare].
Inland areas that will feel the impacts of hurricanes need to prepare by possibly taking action along known flood areas with the removal of people and perhaps longer-term solutions of dedicating those lands to uses other than living spaces.
This answer could go in many different directions based on whether you are inland or coastal and where you live. The best answer is to contact your local emergency managers for advice for your area.
Who is most at risk for financial and emotional distress from hurricanes?
The people most at risk for financial distress are:
- Those without insurance.
- Those living in mobile homes — simply due to the structure being more vulnerable to damage.
- Those without any savings to assist with the time in between disaster and the receipt of insurance funds.
The people at risk for emotional distress are likely those with higher levels of responsibilities — someone with children, animals, multiple properties, or multiple affected family members.
Emotional distress, however, can be a result of someone who might have been more vulnerable (dealing with stress, etc.) prior to the disaster and now the disaster has been a tipping point. Emotional distress is complicated because it can affect all of us for different reasons.
What are the three best resources for disaster relief?
1. Local emergency officials
3. FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers
What are the top three ways to prepare for a severe hurricane?
1. Proactive behavior. Prior to the hurricane season, people should follow the advice of the National Hurricane Center and get prepared. Have a “hurricane kit.” Pay attention to local officials and, when an event is oncoming, prioritize your preparation. Start with securing energy sources (solar-powered devices are really becoming helpful), making sure you have food that does not require energy to prepare, and securing water supplies.
2. Then you have to secure the area. Make sure all outside materials are picked up and moved inside. Damages escalate when things become projectiles.
3. Only evacuate if told to do so or if experience tells you that your area will flood.
What are the three best ways to help those who were affected by a hurricane?
1. Provide use of energy.
2. Provide food.
3. Provide water.
If you are unable to come into the area, electronic payments can be very helpful to try and offset some of the costs. Venmo is very useful if people can get internet access — which is often available at Disaster Relief Centers.
How can local governments best prepare for increasingly intensifying hurricanes in the U.S.?
Identify places with the least amount of protection currently and prioritize those areas for enhanced protection. If we can protect more areas and more people, then the disaster impact is lessened and the state will recover more quickly.
Behind the Ranking
First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Most Hurricane-Vulnerable Counties. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into three categories: Risk, Hurricane History, and Financial Impact. The categories, factors, and their weights are listed in the table below.
For each of 318 U.S. counties with a Hurricane Risk Score determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we then gathered data on each factor from the sources listed below the table.
Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each county to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A county’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Most Vulnerable” (No. 1) and the lowest “Least Vulnerable” (No. 318).
Notes:
- The “Least Vulnerable” among individual factors may not be No. 318 due to ties.
- Although some hurricanes did not directly cross over a particular county, hurricanes within 100 miles (the average coverage area of a typical hurricane) of the county’s center were counted in its history, as it still may have been impacted by those storms. We therefore included all hurricanes that made landfall within 100 miles of each county’s center.
- Hurricane Risk data for the Eastern Pacific Basin was unavailable from FEMA at the time of writing. West Coast counties therefore were also excluded from our sample.
Sources: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
What is Gutter Gnome?
Gutter Gnome — part of the Home Gnome family of home services sites — puts local gutter, gutter guard, and gutter cleaning experts at your fingertips. Before spring’s heavy rains and the start of hurricane season, cleaning out your gutters is a must.
New gutters, new gutter guards, or just crews who will regularly clean out your gutters — we connect you to the best local pros to get the job done quickly.
Media Resources
Main Photo Credit: Gutter Gnome Staff
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) as the source of Hurricane Risk Index scores. The correct source is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
