More than half of all buildings in the United States are situated in hazardous hotspots, prone to wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, according to new research.
Areas vulnerable to such natural disasters make up only one-third of the US mainland, and yet most modern development to date has occurred in these very spots.
In 1945, roughly 173,000 structures, including homes, schools, hospitals, and office buildings, were situated in hotspots for at least two separate kinds of natural disasters.
Seven decades later, that number has now reached over 1.5 million buildings, and development in these areas is still growing rapidly.
More Than Half of All Buildings in The US Are at Risk of Natural Disastershttps://t.co/Okto7IPMB7
— ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) June 24, 2021