Counties with the most emergency shelters in Missouri

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

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 Missouri. 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. Pemiscot County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 69.0 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#49. Howard County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 69.0 (7 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#48. Barry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 69.3 (24 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#47. Camden County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 69.7 (30 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#46. Franklin County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 70.0 (73 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#45. Wayne County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 70.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#44. Dallas County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 70.8 (12 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#43. Benton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 72.3 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#42. Laclede County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 72.4 (26 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#41. Schuyler County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 73.3 (3 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#40. Dunklin County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 73.4 (21 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#39. Perry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 73.7 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#38. Texas County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 76.4 (19 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#37. Andrew County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 77.7 (14 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#36. Lawrence County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 78.7 (30 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#35. Grundy County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 80.8 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#34. Reynolds County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 81.5 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#33. Moniteau County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 82.7 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#32. Audrain County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 83.3 (21 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#31. Mississippi County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 84.8 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#30. Putnam County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 84.8 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#29. Cooper County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 86.2 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#28. Gasconade County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.8 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#27. Montgomery County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 87.8 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#26. Caldwell County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 90.3 (8 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#25. Crawford County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 90.5 (21 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#24. Iron County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 93.7 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#23. DeKalb County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 94.5 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#22. Henry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 96.0 (21 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#21. Oregon County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 101.2 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#20. Knox County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 105.8 (4 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#19. Harrison County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 109.4 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#18. Lewis County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 109.7 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#17. Maries County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 118.2 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#16. Dade County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 118.7 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#15. Clinton County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 123.3 (26 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#14. New Madrid County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 126.1 (21 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#13. Daviess County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 130.5 (11 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#12. Clark County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 135.4 (9 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#11. Nodaway County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 139.1 (30 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#10. Mercer County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 140.4 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#9. Stoddard County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 159.7 (46 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

#8. Pettis County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 160.8 (69 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#7. Shelby County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 164.3 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#6. Osage County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 164.5 (22 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#5. Sullivan County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 165.4 (10 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#4. Gentry County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 208.6 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#3. Worth County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 249.5 (5 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0

#2. Atchison County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 282.4 (15 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2

#1. Holt County

- Emergency shelters per 100K people: 302.7 (13 shelters in database)
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1

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