Counties with the most emergency shelters in Kansas

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

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 Kansas. 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. Jackson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 45.2 (6 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#49. Wichita County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 46.5 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#48. Ellsworth County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 46.9 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#47. Clay County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 49.5 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#46. Haskell County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 52.6 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#45. Atchison County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 54.9 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#44. Scott County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 58.1 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#43. Rooks County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 60.3 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#42. Woodson County

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

#41. Thomas County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 63.3 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#40. Allen County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 63.7 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#39. Wallace County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 65.4 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#38. Marshall County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 70.0 (7 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#37. Decatur County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 71.6 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#36. Washington County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 72.3 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#35. McPherson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 73.2 (22 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#34. Meade County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 73.4 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#33. Morris County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 74.4 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#32. Hamilton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 77.8 (2 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#31. Greeley County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 79.6 (1 shelter in database
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#30. Reno County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 82.2 (51 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#29. Linn County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 82.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#28. Sumner County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 84.1 (19 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#27. Cherokee County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.1 (17 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#26. Wabaunsee County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.2 (6 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#25. Chautauqua County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 88.4 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#24. Wilson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 91.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#23. Coffey County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 95.7 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#22. Barber County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 95.7 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#21. Dickinson County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 96.9 (18 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#20. Montgomery County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 97.9 (31 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#19. Republic County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 106.2 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#18. Kingman County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 106.7 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#17. Harper County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 108.6 (6 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#16. Brown County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 115.4 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#15. Pratt County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 118.7 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#14. Marion County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 126.3 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#13. Butler County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 135.0 (91 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#12. Bourbon County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 152.7 (22 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#11. Sherman County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 167.6 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#10. Morton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 182.2 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#9. Stafford County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 194.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#8. Edwards County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 206.1 (6 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2

#7. Doniphan County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 211.9 (16 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#6. Comanche County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 221.1 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#5. Stanton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 239.5 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#4. Elk County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 243.3 (6 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#3. Gove County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 324.4 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#2. Kiowa County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 325.6 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#1. Phillips County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 458.0 (23 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

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