Here Are the 5 Most Vulnerable Florida Counties This Hurricane Season

Image by NOAA via AP.

By Mivette Vega

August 3, 2023

Two of the state’s counties are the most vulnerable to hurricanes in the whole nation.

Hurricane season began on June 1, but it doesn’t really start to heat up until August or September.

Forecasters have warned that this year cyclones could become more intense because of record-high water temperatures. According to preliminary data released by the US NOAA last Friday, the ocean temperatures in the Atlantic reached unprecedented levels several weeks earlier than their usual annual peak.

This is bad news for Florida, especially for its two counties, which are the most vulnerable counties to hurricanes in the nation: Broward and Palm Beach, according to a study by Gutter Gnome, a home services company.

The company combined hurricane risk assessments by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) with 10 years of historical storm data and financial impact projections from government agencies to determine which counties are most vulnerable.

Ten percent of the most vulnerable counties are mostly from three states: Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Florida counties have experienced the most economic impact in all the US; of the 10 counties with the highest expected annual financial loss from hurricanes, eight are in Florida. Collectively, those eight counties represent over $4.3 billion in losses, according to the study. Florida is also one of four states that have been hit or affected by four Category 5 hurricanes between 2013 and 2022. The other ones are Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The Top 5 Most Hurricane Vulnerable Counties for the 2023 Season

County Overall score

1. Broward County, FL – 72.70

2. Palm Beach County, FL – 72.0

3. Charleston County, SC – 68.17

4. Horry County, SC – 66.3

5. Miami-Dade County, FL – 65.10

Author

Mivette Vega

Mivette Vega is a seasoned journalist and multimedia reporter whose stories center the Latino community. She is passionate about justice, equality, environmental matters, and animals. She is a Salvadorrican—Salvadorian that grew up in Puerto Rico—that has lived in San Juan, Venice, Italy, and Miami.

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CATEGORIES: COMMUNITY

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