Natural disasters inevitably strike, but some places in the U.S. are more prone than others, as is evident in a Small Business Administration study showing a definite destructive pattern concentrated in particular areas, The New York Times reported.
Here are six places in the U.S. where disaster seem to strike over and over:
1. Louisiana — The state's shoreline has weathered some of the most powerful tropical storms to hit the country, resulting in numerous lives lost and property destroyed.
Most recently, Hurricane Harvey left a trail of destruction while careening across Louisiana towards Houston last year. But there have been other memorable storms that have damaged the state, including Ike in 2008, both Rita and Katrina in 2005, Andrew in 1992, Camille in 1969, Betsy in 1965 and Audrey in 1957, as the Leesville Daily Leader reported.
2. San Diego — A number of vicious wild fires have devastated the area in recent years, resulting in dozens of deaths and thousands of acres of scorched earth.
Last year, thousands of San Diegans were forced to evacuate as the wildfires blazed across Southern California. Other notable incidents include the 2003 Cedar Fire, which claimed 15 lives and burnt through 280,278 acres of land, destroying 2,820 buildings in the process, 10 News reported.
3. New York City — The country’s great urban empire has weathered tropical storms, blizzards, floods and terrorist attacks and the state logged more then 60 major disasters since 1953, NBC News reported. It remains one of the world’s most popular cities to live, and where there are lots of people packed into one place there are always potential disasters.
4. Oklahoma — Being located within "tornado alley," Oklahoma City, its environs and the rest of the state inevitably sees the share of disasters descend from the sky – and not to mention, according to The World Atlas, an uptick in the number, frequency and size of earthquakes rattling the state.
5. Alabama — A series of hurricanes and tropical storms have pummeled the Gulf Coast state over the years, but Alabama has also seen deadly tornadoes leaving a wake of destruction behind. Statistics based on the occurrence of tornadoes in 2011 found there were over 200 deaths and an estimated $1.5 billion in damage caused by the twisting winds, NBC said.
6. Florida — The Sunshine State has seen its share of hurricanes and tropical storms, along with tornadoes, wildfires and floods, according to FloridaDisaster.com. Tornadoes killed 21 people and caused $270 million in damage in central Florida on Feb. 2, 2007, the website noted. A decade earlier, strong tornadoes killed 42 people and injured over 250 in east-central Florida on Feb. 22, 1998. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 is remembered as one of the most devastating storms. More recent hurricanes to strike the state include Hurricane Charley in 2004, Wilma in 2005, and Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, according to the Times.
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