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
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#49. Allen County
- Shelters listed with generators: 30
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#48. Randolph County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Owen County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#46. Fulton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Warrick County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Clinton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#43. Pulaski County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#42. Boone County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#41. Adams County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#40. Madison County
- Shelters listed with generators: 8
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#39. Dearborn County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Vanderburgh County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3
#37. Fayette County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#36. Kosciusko County
- Shelters listed with generators: 12
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#35. Grant County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Cass County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Noble County
- Shelters listed with generators: 7
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#32. Henry County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#31. Wells County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#30. Parke County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Howard County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Gibson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#27. Miami County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Knox County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#25. Vermillion County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#24. Delaware County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Ohio County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#22. Carroll County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#21. Spencer County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#20. Marshall County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#19. Tipton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Posey County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3
#17. Whitley County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. White County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#15. Benton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Harrison County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Jefferson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#12. Montgomery County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#11. Greene County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Steuben County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#9. Fountain County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#8. Warren County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#7. Perry County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#6. Crawford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Pike County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#4. Blackford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Huntington County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Dubois County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Jay County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0