• More Blogs
• Observations »
• Bering in Mind »
• Cross-check »
• Extinction Countdown »
• Solar at Home »
• Expeditions »
• Guest Blog »
• Anecdotes from the Archive »

Thinking about relocating? Forget the proximity of good schools, trendy shopping and green space. You might want to take a look at a new “hazard map” of the U.S., which spells out by geographic region the likelihood of dying from floods, earthquakes or other natural dangers.

Geographers from the University of South Carolina in Columbia determined how common deaths from natural hazards were in different regions of the country, using information from the Spatial Hazard Event and Loss Database, which culls deaths and economic losses from weather in the U.S. (Here's the abstract of what some are calling the "death map" study.) They examined 11 categories of hazards between 1970 and 2004: winter weather (such as frigid temps and blizzards), mass movements (such as landslides and avalanches), coastal and geophysical events (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis), flooding, heat and drought, hurricanes and tropical storms, lightning, severe weather (combinations of hail, wind and rain), tornadoes and wildfires.

Deaths clustered most in the South, where tornadoes, lightning and severe weather wrought havoc, according to the study published in today's International Journal of Health Geographics. In mountainous western states, winter weather, severe weather and flooding were responsible for the bulk of deaths, and in the south-central U.S., heat and drought, tornados and flooding were most lethal.

Regional rates of death by natural hazard weren't published in the paper. Nationally, heat and drought were the most deadly natural phenomenona, accounting for nearly 20 percent of deaths. Severe summer weather caused nearly 19 percent of deaths, and winter weather 18 percent of deaths. Flooding caused 14 percent, tornado nearly 12 percent, coastal hazards about 2 percent, geophysical events 1.5 percent, hurricanes and tropical storms 1.5 percent, mass movements 0.9 percent and wildfires 0.4 percent.

It's unknown whether poverty or other social factors contribute to the regional differences in deaths from natural hazards, co-author Susan Cutter tells us. The hazards themselves may differ by geography, but so do their effects.

"Every place has some degree of risk from natural hazards," says Cutter.

"Flooding is ubiquitous," she says. "Heat you don’t find as prevalent a hazard in the South because it's the normal mode; it's more of a problem in the North where people aren’t used to extremely high temperatures in summer. Frigid weather is the norm in Minnesota and the Dakotas and people have adapted to it and prepared for it. If there were the same weather in the South, you'd have a lot of fatalities associated with it."

Natural hazards aren’t among the government's top 10 causes of death. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the big three.

Map from Spatial patterns of natural hazards mortality in the United States, International Journal of Health Geographics

8 Comments

1. 1. intheknow 08:47 PM 12/16/08

   I must be missing something, because I don't see a map when I click on the link.....BAD REPORTING!!! Get it right next time...the link should take a person right to the map, not to some list of articles -- none of which pertain! Phooey!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. LostJudi 07:27 AM 12/17/08

   This article is like the local news, just sound bites, no real information. But, when you need to know something, just Google it.
   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081216201408.htm
   That has a small version of the "Death Map". Cheerful name, isn't it?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. mememe 09:15 AM 12/17/08

   Agree with intheknow - why doesn't the first link - hazard map - actually go to the map?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. cblsttrotwd 11:41 AM 12/17/08

   but the link does take you to the paper explaining the data and containing that map and more.
   
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. Angels 0f Death 12:24 PM 12/17/08

   this is so off i read the article and I live in the great plains and I have never heard of a person who died of extreme heat, and we do have tornados but the damage is not so bad like a hurricanes plus tornadoes deaths are really low, and about 4 freeze to deaths in a year. i think that living on the coast is the worst place to live because a hurricane destorys everything in its path

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. hnkelley 12:44 PM 12/17/08

   The abstract is here: http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/7/1/64 and has a link to download the 'provisional' PDF (I guess they're still working on the actual publication).
   
   I have to say that, while the research and conclusions are pretty good, in so far as I can tell, the presentation of the map data is lousy. I've more than a bit of experience with GIS and would have chosen a much different map of the data that would be much more explanatory, much easier for the lay-person to read. Funny thing is, I know this because I considered building such a map several years ago when I was more active in GIS!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

7. 7. erickque 12:55 PM 12/17/08

   Yeah angel of death, nobody has ever died of Heat stroke or heat exhaustion. I live in Minnesota and people die of it here even (picture snow and cold)!! Are you suggesting that tornados don't destroy everything in there path like hurricanes?? Most hurricanes have under 100 mile per hour sustained winds, might cause some mayhem, but for the most part most structures are still standing. Put that against the average EF2 Tornado which has internal winds around 700 MPH!! I'd like to see a house withstand a hit by one of those! Oh, and go outside in 20 below weather or colder, especially with the winds that whip up in the plains of the U.S. The average person would last about 30 minutes without shelter.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

8. 8. Cristen in reply to Angels 0f Death 02:09 AM 1/17/10

   I'm from the Midwest, Angel, and people die every year from extreme heat, just as some do when there's extreme cold. Doesn't matter where you are in the country, if conditions are extreme, there are going to be parts of the population that cannot cope. Additionally, I have lived in Florida and experienced three major hurricanes. At least you can see a hurricane coming for days and prepare. The surprise-factor of tornados, despite the very important improvements in technology to predict them, and the absolutely powerful and strange characteristics of their winds, makes them a force to be respected. Sure, they don't affect nearly as much property perhaps in one sweep, but the devestation is much more dramatic and the injury rate and loss of life is higher per size of area hit.
   
   Hurricanes don't necessary destroy as much as damage (depending on their strength, of course)... tornadoes seem to have a much higher and consistent destruction rate, even in the lower classes of tornadoes. Hurricane Katrina stays fresh in our minds because we're still dealing with the aftermath, but there were many hurricanes in that year that hit the US and didn't inflict much damage at all.
   
   Either way, nature is a powerful entity and if you ever have the opportunity to help a community or individual clean up after a tornado strikes their property, hand out water and ice after a hurricane has passed, or throw sandbags in attempt to hold-off an impending flood, it is a truly humbling experience.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this