Counties with the most emergency shelters in Indiana

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January 20, 2023
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Counties with the most emergency shelters in Indiana

As climate change drives weather to greater extremes, and devastating hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and blizzards preoccupy an increasing number of Americans, it is hard to avoid comparing the reality of everyday news coverage to the computer-generated images seen in disaster movies.

Over the last 50 years, natural disasters have become five times more common due to climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization. They've also become more economically debilitating—the five most expensive climate disasters in American history have all taken place over the last two decades.

The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters means that the need for emergency evacuation and shelter plans has never been greater. According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, understanding your climate risk, or proximity to probable natural disaster, is an important first step for making a plan. Tools like the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation allow you to assess your risk by location.

Knowing where nearby emergency shelters are located is another way to prepare for the worst. In the event of flooding, hurricane-level winds, or other disasters, emergency shelters offer a place to sleep, and also often provide food, water, and first aid services. Stacker examined the Department of Homeland Security's National Shelter System Facilities database to identify the counties with the most emergency shelters in Indiana. Counties are ranked by emergency shelters per 100K people, with total capacity per 100K people serving as a tiebreaker.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the total emergency shelter capacity in each county. Due to the variable availability of that data for each shelter, the data point has been removed from the updated version.

#50. Sullivan County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 33.6 (7 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#49. Allen County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 34.3 (131 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 30
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#48. Randolph County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 36.5 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#47. Owen County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 37.6 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#46. Fulton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.2 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#45. Warrick County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.3 (25 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#44. Clinton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 39.4 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#43. Pulaski County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 40.0 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#42. Boone County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 40.1 (28 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#41. Adams County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 42.0 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#40. Madison County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 42.3 (55 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 8
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#39. Dearborn County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 45.5 (23 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#38. Vanderburgh County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 45.6 (82 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3

#37. Fayette County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 47.0 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#36. Kosciusko County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 48.7 (39 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 12
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2

#35. Grant County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 49.4 (33 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#34. Cass County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 50.1 (19 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#33. Noble County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 50.7 (24 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 7
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#32. Henry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 51.2 (25 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#31. Wells County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 53.4 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#30. Parke County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 55.2 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#29. Howard County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 60.0 (50 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#28. Gibson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 60.6 (20 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#27. Miami County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 60.9 (22 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#26. Knox County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 63.3 (23 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#25. Vermillion County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 64.6 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#24. Delaware County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 64.9 (73 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#23. Ohio County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 67.4 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#22. Carroll County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 69.0 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#21. Spencer County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 70.2 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#20. Marshall County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 71.5 (33 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#19. Tipton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 71.9 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#18. Posey County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 75.1 (19 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3

#17. Whitley County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 76.4 (26 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#16. White County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 77.3 (19 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#15. Benton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 80.6 (7 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#14. Harrison County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 81.0 (32 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#13. Jefferson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 81.8 (27 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#12. Montgomery County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 86.9 (33 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#11. Greene County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.3 (27 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#10. Steuben County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 90.2 (31 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#9. Fountain County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 91.3 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#8. Warren County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 94.9 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#7. Perry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 104.4 (20 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#6. Crawford County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 114.2 (12 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#5. Pike County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 114.6 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#4. Blackford County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 115.3 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#3. Huntington County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 117.6 (43 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#2. Dubois County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 133.4 (58 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#1. Jay County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 257.7 (53 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

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