New Orleans tops a new list of the ten U.S. mainland areas most vulnerable to hurricanes put out by the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University.
The entire East and Gulf Coasts are subject to hurricane impacts, but some areas are much more vulnerable than others according to the Center's “10 Most Vulnerable US Mainland Areas to Hurricanes,”
With the protective levees of this below-sea level city being in little better shape than when Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the area last year, New Orleans still remains the area with the greatest threat of windstorm damage.
The only other area that is protected from flooding by levees (e.g., the 140-mile long Hoover Dike) is adjacent to Lake Okeechobee, Fla., where the second worst hurricane disaster for life loss in U.S. history occurred in 1928.
Presently, more than 40,000 people live at the base of this giant Corps of Engineers earthen structure that is leaking and declared by two recent reports to be a “grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida.”
Twelve criteria were used to evaluate the vulnerability of U.S. mainland areas to hurricanes. Cyclonic energy (hurricane frequency and storm intensity) and levee/dike failure were primary determinants of vulnerability.
Physical factors included storm surge and freshwater flooding potential as well as coastal erosion trends and island breaching history. Socioeconomic indicators involved populations at risk, evacuation distance and routes, what's at risk and local/state capabilities to respond to major hurricane impacts.
The rankings are as follows:
New Orleans, La.
Lake Okeechobee, Fla.
Florida Keys
Coastal Mississippi
Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Galveston/Houston, Texas
Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Eastern Long Island, N.Y.
Wilmington, N.C.
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
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