Surprises in a New Tally of Areas Vulnerable to Hurricanes

Using a formula based on storm intensity, flooding potential, population, evacuation routes and other factors, coastal scientists at Florida International University have determined, “to nobody’s surprise,” that New Orleans has the top spot on the list of East Coast and Gulf Coast areas most vulnerable to loss of life and property damage in hurricanes.

But their second choice is far less obvious: Lake Okeechobee, Fla.

Few people can recall what happened in 1928 when a hurricane sloshed the lake’s water into a powerful surge that broke the earthen dike around it. As many as 2,500 people died in the resulting flood, most of them impoverished farm workers. The hurricane remains the second deadliest ever in the United States — only the 1900 hurricane that killed about 6,000 people in Galveston, Tex., was worse.

from the NY Times