Tuesday, 3 October 2006
The 10 Most Vulnerable Hurricane Areas
The International Hurricane Research Center has released its report on the “10 Most Vulnerable US Mainland Areas to Hurricanes.”
New Orleans tops the list — the levees that keep the Mississippi River are still in bad shape following least year’s disaster. Coming in at number two is Lake Okeechobee, Florida, where one of the nation’s worst hurricane disasters occurred in 1928. There are currently more than 40,000 people living next to a levee (built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1930s) that is leaking. The levee has been called a “grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida.”
The full list of hurricane danger zones is:
- 1. New Orleans, Louisiana
- 2. Lake Okeechobee, Florida
- 3. Florida Keys
- 4. Coastal Mississippi
- 5. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
- 6. Galveston/Houston, Texas
- 7. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
- 8. Eastern Long Island, New York
- 9. Wilmington, North Carolina
- 10. Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
No matter where you live, the report is a timely reminder of how important it is to be prepared for a disaster. That includes:
- Having an evacuation plan, in case you and your family need to leave the area.
- Having supplies on hand, including food, water, and extra clothing, in case you need to wait out a storm or other disaster.
- Making sure that you home and property is insured against wind and flood damage, so that if disaster does strike, you’ll be able to get back on your feet.
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