Los Angeles county is the riskiest county in the US, according to a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) index which considers 18 kinds of natural disasters, from earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes to floods, volcanoes and tsunamis. The National Risk Index spotlights places long known as danger spots, like Los Angeles, but some places highlighted run counter to expectations. Two New York City counties, Philadelphia, St Louis and Hudson county, New Jersey are therefore Fema’s top five riskiest counties for tornadoes. Oklahoma county, Oklahoma, which has seen more than 120 tornadoes since 1950, including one that killed 36 in 1999, ranks 120th. Risks are changing because of climate change and the Fema index does not seem to address that, Ropeik said.

Source: The Guardian January 02, 2021 18:45 UTC