New Data Highlights Most Disaster-Prone U.S. Communities

Source: GovTech Published: October 12th, 2020

One of the communities most at-risk for wildfires in California is a small enclave in Mendocino County, in the northern half of the state.

What makes Brooktrails and Sherwood Ranch in Willits, Calif., so vulnerable is a lack of exit routes out of these areas when disaster strikes.

Following nearby fires in 2017, community leaders learned that “none of the four ‘emergency travel routes’ shown on the official evacuation map were available for use,” said Keith Rutledge, a member of the steering group for Sherwood Firewise Communities (SFC), an organization formed to improve fire-zone safety in the area. “And this notification came after the fires were put out. This left the 5,000 people and 2,000 homes with only one way in and out — Sherwood Road.”

The 10 U.S. communities with the most constrained evacuation routes are:

  1. Camano, Wash. 

  2. Hilton Head Island, S.C. 

  3. Mercer Island, Wash.  

  4. Skidaway Island, Ga.

  5. Nahant, Mass.

  6. South Beach, Fla.

  7. Six Shooter Canyon, Ariz.

  8. Pahrump, Nev.

  9. Bell Canyon, Calif.

  10. New Square, N.Y.

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Photo by Marcus Kauffman on Unsplash

Chelsea Collier