Data collection for these events has never been more consistent. Mapping the trends in recent years gives us an idea of where disasters have the tendency to strike. In 2018, it is estimated that natural disasters cost the nation almost $100 billion and took nearly 250 lives. It turns out there is nowhere in the United States that is particularly insulated from everything.

Floods

According to NOAA, floods kill an average of 90 people each year in the US., the highest average of any type of natural disaster. Most flood deaths occur as people are swept away in cars and other vehicles. The reasons vary with climate and topography.

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In the middle of the country, tributaries of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers routinely overspill their banks, sometimes causing catastrophic flooding such as this spring’s deluge in Nebraska, Iowa and adjacent states. As seasonal temperatures rise, snow melts early and inundates the river system at the same time spring rains hit. The water has nowhere else to go.

In other places, intense rains can trigger flash floods in areas where the terrain funnels water into a narrow space. Ellicott City, Md., has suffered two 1,000-year floods in the past three years because it sits at the bottom of a hill where several streams converge.

Areas within a wide band of Texas, from north of Dallas to south of San Antonio, are so prone to flooding that the entire zone is referred to as “Flash Flood Alley.” Steep canyons and valleys of the desert southwest routinely channel torrents of water from storms at higher elevations.

Tornadoes and hurricanes

Hurricanes and tornadoes are woven into the fabric of life in certain parts of the country. Storm cellars and tornado drills are common in the Midwest. On the gulf and east coasts, hurricane evacuation route signs line major streets and highways. These areas are home to some of the most violent storms in the world.

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“Tornado Alley” stretches from the Dakotas south to Texas. Warm, moist air from the Gulf travels north and collides with cold, dry air from Canada and the Rockies. But the deadliest tornado outbreak in decades — meteorologists called it a “Super Outbreak” — took place in “Dixie Alley” in Alabama in 2011. More than 350 tornadoes were confirmed, and 324 people died.

Extreme heat and cold

It is no surprise that it gets hot in the southwest and cold in the Upper Plains. But heat waves and cold snaps that extend into areas unaccustomed to them cause dozens of deaths each year. Even in areas where bitter cold is common, super-chilled air blasting down from the Arctic can catch people unprepared, as it did earlier this year when the extreme weather caused several deaths in Milwaukee, Detroit and Rochester, Minn.

Wildfires

Increasingly warmer temperatures and the extreme drought of the past decade have created perfect conditions for wildfires in the west in recent years. Last year’s fire season was the worst on record in California, with the largest (Carr) and most deadly (Camp) fires in state history.

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In addition to the drought conditions, infestations of bark beetles and other invasive species have killed off vast swaths of forests in the Mountain West, leaving thousands of acres more susceptible to wildfires.

Lightning

About 17 million lightning strikes lit up the sky over the continental United States in 2018, according to Vaisala, which operates the National Lightning Detection Network.

On average, a few dozen people are killed every year by lightning, and that number has been slowly declining for decades. Strikes cause thousands of structure fires every year and also contribute to wildfires. The National Interagency Fire Center tracks lightning strikes and uses the data to position fire response crews in areas where wildfires may break out during storms.

Earthquakes and volcanoes

The entire U.S. West Coast sits atop the Ring of Fire, a large horseshoe-shaped area that is adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and contains many of the world’s volcanoes. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates about 80 percent of all earthquakes on the planet happen here.

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But earthquakes happen elsewhere in North America as well. In 2011, a 5.8-magnitude temblor near Mineral, Va., shook the D.C. area, damaging the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. In Oklahoma, the injection of wastewater associated with fracking has been responsible for thousands of tiny earthquakes.

Though dangerous, these events have found a way into our identities. Sports teams embrace their local disasters: the cyclones, hurricanes, heat and avalanche. For disasters that hit large urban areas like Houston after Harvey or New York after Sandy, public resources are rushed and declarations that the communities will bounce back stronger than ever are made. Hashtags like #houstonstrong spread on social media.