Where does Palm Beach County rank on the national list of most hurricane-prone counties?
Three Florida counties, including Palm Beach County, rank in the country’s top five most hurricane-vulnerable, according to data from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) and 10 years of historical storm data and financial impact projections from government agencies.
Here’s a breakdown of the predictions for this hurricane season and where Palm Beach County ranks on the national list.
What are the predictions for hurricane season 2023?
Earlier this month, Colorado State University released its third and most recent forecast for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.
The forecast predicts an unusual hurricane season due to record-breaking heat levels and a corresponding anomalous spike in water temperature this summer.
“While we continue to anticipate a robust El Niño for the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season,” the report says, "most of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic now has record warm sea surface temperatures.”
The forecast predicted almost four storms more than the typical yearly average.
Live updates: Millions under advisories, warnings as extreme heat sears much of the US
Palm Beach is the second-most hurricane-vulnerable county in the nation
Gutter company Gutter Gnome collected data on the U.S. counties that have risk assessments from the NCDP and published a national list of the most hurricane-vulnerable counties.
The list ranks each county by averaging scores (out of 100) for these categories: level of risk, hurricane history over the last 10 years (how many and what category they were) and financial impact.
Of the 10 counties with the highest expected annual financial loss from hurricanes nationwide, eight are in Florida and those eight counties represent over $4 billion in losses.
Palm Beach County took second place on the list of the nation’s 318 counties that have earned a hurricane risk assessment from the NCDP.
Nearby Broward, Miami-Dade, Brevard, Orange and St. Lucie counties also took high rankings on the list, all coming in top 20 placements. Broward county took first place.
What Florida county gets hit by the most hurricanes?
According to the study, 10% of the most susceptible counties are made up almost entirely of only three states: Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Florida counties take up nine of the top 20 rankings on the list.
Here are the rankings for the 20 most hurricane-vulnerable counties and their overall vulnerability scores (out of 100):
Broward County, Florida, 72.70
Palm Beach County, Florida, 72.09
Charleston County, South Carolina, 68.17
Horry County, South Carolina, 66.31
Miami-Dade County, Florida, 65.10
Beaufort County, South Carolina, 64.93
Berkeley County, South Carolina, 62.76
Chatham County, Georgia, 62.50
Dorchester County, South Carolina, 60.97
Onslow County, North Carolina, 60.75
Brevard County, Florida, 59.98
Georgetown County, South Carolina, 59.61
Harris County, Texas, 57.89
New Hanover County, North Carolina, 57.73
Orange County, Florida, 57.02
St. Lucie County, Florida, 55.83
Florence County, South Carolina, 55.80
Collier County, Florida, 54.98
Carteret County, North Carolina, 54.74
Volusia County, Florida, 54.55
Hurricane season tips for homeowners: Five insurance facts to know, when to buy
A snapshot of Palm Beach County's hurricane metrics
Here’s how Palm Beach County ranked in each individual category that contributed to overall rankings:
Palm Beach County took fourth place for level of risk.
Palm Beach County placed first in hurricane history, making it the county to be hit by the most Category 5 hurricanes in the last 10 years.
Palm Beach County placed third in expected annual financial loss from hurricane damage.
Lianna Norman covers trending news in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at lnorman@pbpost.com. You can follow her reporting on social media @LiannaNorman on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County Florida ranks high on hurricane-prone list
