Counties with the most emergency shelters in Nebraska
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 Nebraska. 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. Otoe County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#49. Kimball County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#48. Colfax County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Hamilton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#46. Furnas County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Greeley County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Gage County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#43. Cheyenne County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#42. Scotts Bluff County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#41. Platte County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#40. Sherman County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#39. Perkins County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Dundy County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#37. Keya Paha County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#36. Garfield County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#35. Keith County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Hitchcock County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Logan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#32. Webster County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#31. Thurston County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#30. Thayer County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Red Willow County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Adams County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#27. Dawson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Fillmore County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#25. Wayne County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#24. Loup County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Custer County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#22. Kearney County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#21. Frontier County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#20. Banner County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#19. Gosper County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Boone County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#17. Jefferson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. Nance County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#15. Thomas County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Seward County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Sioux County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#12. Polk County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#11. McPherson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Arthur County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#9. Sheridan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#8. Boyd County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#7. Rock County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#6. Butler County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Franklin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#4. Garden County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Hayes County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Harlan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Hooker County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0