Counties with the most emergency shelters in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania. 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. Erie County
- Shelters listed with generators: 35
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#49. Crawford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 10
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#48. Lehigh County
- Shelters listed with generators: 51
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Clarion County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#46. Clinton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Lycoming County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Berks County
- Shelters listed with generators: 54
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#43. Adams County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#42. Schuylkill County
- Shelters listed with generators: 20
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#41. Greene County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#40. Luzerne County
- Shelters listed with generators: 32
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 4
#39. Snyder County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Monroe County
- Shelters listed with generators: 35
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#37. Fayette County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#36. Susquehanna County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#35. Elk County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Forest County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Juniata County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#32. Mercer County
- Shelters listed with generators: 15
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#31. Lebanon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 21
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#30. Westmoreland County
- Shelters listed with generators: 29
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Wayne County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Columbia County
- Shelters listed with generators: 10
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#27. Tioga County
- Shelters listed with generators: 6
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Northumberland County
- Shelters listed with generators: 12
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3
#25. Cumberland County
- Shelters listed with generators: 64
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#24. Blair County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Montour County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#22. Washington County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#21. Pike County
- Shelters listed with generators: 10
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 3
#20. Carbon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 15
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#19. Somerset County
- Shelters listed with generators: 19
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Union County
- Shelters listed with generators: 4
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#17. Bradford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 11
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. McKean County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#15. Indiana County
- Shelters listed with generators: 30
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Mifflin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 14
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Venango County
- Shelters listed with generators: 20
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#12. Huntingdon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 11
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#11. Warren County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Potter County
- Shelters listed with generators: 7
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#9. Cambria County
- Shelters listed with generators: 64
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#8. Armstrong County
- Shelters listed with generators: 27
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 4
#7. Bedford County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#6. Clearfield County
- Shelters listed with generators: 24
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Wyoming County
- Shelters listed with generators: 5
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#4. Jefferson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 9
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Cameron County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Fulton County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Sullivan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 3
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1