15 Places That Are Most Vulnerable to Hurricanes

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.

Which U.S. counties are most likely to be impacted by hurricanes?

LawnStarter ranked the most hurricane-vulnerable counties to find out. We considered hurricane risk assessments and anticipated financial loss from hurricanes according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

We also included the past 10 years of historical storm data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and access to national disaster debris recovery facilities.

Read on to see where the most hurricane-vulnerable U.S. counties are in the following ranking. To learn more about how we ranked the counties, see our methodology at the end.

1. Broward County, FL

• Overall Score: 74.57
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 3
• Hurricane History Rank: 26
• Financial Impact Rank: 2
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 248

2. Palm Beach County, FL

• Overall Score: 73.66
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 4
• Hurricane History Rank: 26
• Financial Impact Rank: 3
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 268

3. Charleston County, SC

• Overall Score: 68.04
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 9
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 8
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 257

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4. Miami-Dade County, FL

• Overall Score: 66.75
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 2
• Hurricane History Rank: 86
• Financial Impact Rank: 4
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 287

5. Horry County, SC

• Overall Score: 66.13
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 11
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 11
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 212

6. Beaufort County, SC

• Overall Score: 64.74
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 21
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 18
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 186

7. Berkeley County, SC

• Overall Score: 62.24
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 32
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 31
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 223

8. Chatham County, GA

• Overall Score: 61.89
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 13
• Hurricane History Rank: 19
• Financial Impact Rank: 12
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 260

9. Onslow County, NC

• Overall Score: 60.49
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 23
• Hurricane History Rank: 19
• Financial Impact Rank: 20
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 66

10. Dorchester County, SC

• Overall Score: 60.45
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 46
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 47
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 194

11. Brevard County, FL

• Overall Score: 60.19
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 7
• Hurricane History Rank: 57
• Financial Impact Rank: 7
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 205

12. Georgetown County, SC

• Overall Score: 59.09
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 60
• Hurricane History Rank: 2
• Financial Impact Rank: 56
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 194

13. New Hanover County, NC

• Overall Score: 58.00
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 15
• Hurricane History Rank: 45
• Financial Impact Rank: 13
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 131

14. Orange County, FL

• Overall Score: 56.60
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 22
• Hurricane History Rank: 30
• Financial Impact Rank: 24
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 257

15. Harris County, TX

• Overall Score: 56.36
• Hurricane Risk Rank: 1
• Hurricane History Rank: 296
• Financial Impact Rank: 1
• Disaster Cleanup Rank: 317

Methodology

First, we determined the factors (metrics) that are most relevant to rank the Most Hurricane-Vulnerable Counties. We then assigned a weight to each factor based on its importance and grouped those factors into four categories: Hurricane Risk, Hurricane History, Financial Impact, and Disaster Cleanup. Here are the factors:

• Hurricane Risk Score
• Total Number of Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Number of Category 5 Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Number of Category 4 Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Number of Category 3 Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Number of Category 2 Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Number of Category 1 Hurricanes (Last 10 Years)
• Expected Annual Loss from Hurricane
• Number of National Disaster Debris Recovery Facilities (EPA 2023)

For each of the 317 U.S. counties with a Hurricane Risk Score determined by FEMA, we then gathered data on each factor.

Finally, we calculated scores (out of 100 points) for each county to determine its rank in each factor, each category, and overall. A county’s Overall Score is the average of its scores across all factors and categories. The highest Overall Score ranked “Best” (No. 1).