More than half of buildings in the United States are located in hazardous areas prone to wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, according to an analysis by researchers at the University of Colorado.
Areas threatened by natural disasters account for only a third of the country’s land mass, but most of the modern construction was carried out on their territory. In 1954, about 173,000 buildings, including residential buildings, schools and administrative buildings, were located in areas that were at risk of at least two different types of natural disasters. Almost 70 years later, their number has reached 1.4 million, and intensive development continues in these “hot spots”.
And not only climate change increases the risk of destruction and natural disasters, scientists say. Building density in hurricane-prone areas, for example, has tripled since 1945, the largest increase in any other area in the country. This means that more people will suffer from hurricanes that are increasing in intensity and frequency.
Hurricanes threaten the states of the East Coast and those adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico the most. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey damaged or destroyed 75,000 buildings in Texas. Cities on the West Coast are more affected by earthquakes and wildfires. In Los Angeles County alone, earthquake damage accounts for 22% of all such damage in the country. Between 1992 and 2005, about 2.5 million homes were located one kilometer from a wildfire each year, the study said.
The greatest damage to real estate is caused by floods. While construction in flood-prone areas has slowed, it continues around dams and dams designed to contain floods. But with particularly intense floods, these barriers can collapse on their own.
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Living in hazardous areas
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