Tennessee #2 state with most natural disasters, data shows

July 23, 2024

Associated Press,

(Associated Press) — When it comes to extreme weather and other so-called natural disasters, people generally look to the hurricane or earthquake-prone coasts and say that’s where the danger is. But that’s not where the highest concentration of federally declared disasters are, according to an atlas of 713 FEMA declared disasters created by New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge — some of the counties that have had the most disasters are surprisingly inland and in unexpected places, such as Kentucky, Vermont, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

The institute’s atlas of disaster and accountability is based on Federal Emergency Management Agency data and shows what counties have had the most number of federally declared disasters from 2011 to 2023, which have received the most federal aid to communities (not counting aid to individual disaster victims) and which have received the most federal money per capita.

While most people in disasters think about federal government direct financial help to individual victims to pay for lost housing and businesses, the atlas focuses on the $60 billion pot of FEMA aid to governments.

FIND YOUR STATE: TOP 10 STATES WITH MOST NATURAL DISASTERS

The states with the most federal disasters between 2011 and 2023:

California (34)
Tennessee (28)
Oklahoma (27)
Mississippi (24)
Iowa (23)
Alaska (21)
Kentucky (20)
South Dakota (20)
Vermont (20)

The state with the least disasters is Nevada (4) followed by Delaware, Indiana, Rhode Island and Wyoming (5).

NOTE: Note these are mostly weather or climate related disasters. This list excludes the COVID pandemic, which was declared a national disaster in every state. It excludes oil spills, train derailments and other accidents, and FEMA doesn’t declare disasters for drought or heat waves. Wildfires are included, regardless of the cause.

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VIEW THE DATA: DISASTER COUNT, FEMA FUNDS, DISASTER TYPE

This spreadsheet of the Atlas of Accountability shows disaster count, total FEMA funds and FEMA per capita funds for all 50 states and each county or parish in the states. It also shows the disaster name and type for each state.

WEST TENNESSEE COUNTIES AFFECTED BY NATURAL DISASTERS (2011-2023)