BE PREPARED
The map is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and shows each county's rating for disaster potential. Most of California's counties are in the highest ranking mostly due to high fire, earthquake, severe storm and flood risk.
Natural hazards are defined as environmental phenomena that have the potential to impact societies and the human environment. These should not be confused with other types of hazards, such as human-caused hazards. For example, a flood resulting from changes in river flows is a natural hazard, whereas flooding due to a dam failure is considered a human-caused disaster and therefore excluded from the National Risk Index.
Calculating the risk index
Risk index scores are calculated using an equation that combines scores for expected annual loss due to natural hazards, social vulnerability and community resilience
Risk index scores are presented as a composite score for all 18 hazard types, as well as individual scores for each hazard type.
The 18 natural hazards included in the National Risk Index are: Avalanche
Coastal flooding
Cold wave
Drought
Earthquake
Hail
Natural hazards and natural disasters are related but are not the same. A natural hazard is the threat of an event that will likely have a negative impact. A natural disaster is the negative impact following an actual occurrence of a natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community.
Heat wave Hurricane
Ice storm Landslide Lightning Riverine flooding
Strong wind Tornado Tsunami Volcanic activity Wildfire Winter weather
2005
2022