PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked as the No. 14 most-prepared state nationwide to face life-threatening weather, in a report released by Gold Eagle last week.
The company evaluated states based upon the frequency of disasters, size of its emergency management budget, infrastructure score and preparedness to respond to weather-related disasters based on the amount of National Guard members per capita.
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Rhode Island tallied 22 disasters between Jan. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 2017, and had the 31st-largest state emergency management budget per capita in the nation. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, Rhode Island scored a D-, while the country as a whole received a D+. The Ocean State also was reported to have 2,200 U.S. Army National Guard troops.
Massachusetts, which ranked as the No. 17 most-prepared state, experienced 47 disasters between Jan. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 2017, and had the 16th-largest state emergency management budget in the country. The state’s infrastructure score was rated slightly above the national average at a C- and had an emergency management budget that more than tripled Rhode Island, at $79.3 million. Massachusetts had 6,225 Army National Guard troops.
With 255 disaster declarations, Texas ranked as the least-prepared state in the United States, while Iowa topped the list as the most prepared.
The report used data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Guard, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and state and local budgets.
Haley Hunt is a PBN contributing writer.
