Counties with the most emergency shelters in Minnesota
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 Minnesota. 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. Blue Earth County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#49. Cass County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#48. Rice County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Crow Wing County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#46. McLeod County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Sibley County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Mower County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#43. Chippewa County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#42. Otter Tail County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#41. Clay County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#40. Cottonwood County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#39. Beltrami County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Douglas County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#37. Houston County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#36. Pine County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#35. Mille Lacs County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Freeborn County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Norman County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#32. Watonwan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#31. Pipestone County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#30. Nicollet County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Dodge County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Kandiyohi County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#27. Roseau County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Lac qui Parle County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#25. Renville County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#24. Lyon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Brown County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#22. Carlton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#21. Big Stone County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#20. Steele County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#19. Wabasha County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Itasca County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#17. Hubbard County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. Polk County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#15. Clearwater County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Aitkin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Fillmore County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#12. Martin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#11. Lake County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Swift County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#9. Winona County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#8. Wilkin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#7. Lincoln County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#6. Koochiching County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Lake of the Woods County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#4. Waseca County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Cook County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Kittson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Marshall County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0