More than 35 million U.S. single-family homes and condos, the equivalent of $6.6 trillion in residential property, are at high risk of damage from natural disasters. Those homes account for 43% of the total single-family residential property in the United States.

Devastating natural disasters have wreaked extensive property damage across the country in the last decade. Drought conditions have created a series of massive wildfires such as the one in Prescott, Arizona that killed 19 firefighters. This August marked the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the deadliest and costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Katrina and Sandy — the devastating storm that stuck the Northeast in 2012 — alone accounted for more than $170 billion in damages. A tornado making landfall in Joplin, Missouri in 2011 killed 158 people. Americans living in certain parts of the country know that such natural disasters can hit at any time, and some risk multiple types of natural disasters. These are the cities with the most dangerous natural disasters.

Click here to see the cities most at risk for natural disasters.

Americans living in the Gulf or the Atlantic Coast are aware that such risk of a hurricane damaging their property exist. Similarly, those living on or near the San Andreas Fault can expect at least a minor earthquake in their lifetimes. These risks, as well as the higher insurance rates that come with them, are one of the factors home buyers make when moving to an area. .

While many parts of the country are at risk of a single type of disaster, these metro areas are exposed to multiple types of events and therefore earn the distinction of having the worst weather in the country. San Bernardino, California residents have a high risk of both wildfires and earthquakes. Fayetteville, North Carolina is at extreme risk of wildfires, earthquakes, and tornadoes.

RealtyTrac vice president, Daren Blomquist, pointed out that rather than suffering from depressed home prices, these areas tend to have fluctuating values. This happens because, despite the risks of disaster, “A lot of people want to live in [these areas] because they tend to be close to the ocean, which is desirable, and maybe close to the mountains, which is also a desirable location.”

With signs pointing to a dramatic increase in meteorological events due to climate change, it might be expected that homeowners may be becoming more discerning about where they buy a home.
However, while increased awareness of the risks of natural disasters may be affecting the decisions of potential homeowners, “at the end of the day, when people are buying a home, it for the most part ties back to jobs and income and wages and affordability as to whether they buy or not,” Blomquist explained.

However, “People certainly should look at natural disaster risk and at least know what their risk is to prepare and have adequate insurance, should that risk become a reality.” When insurance costs start to rise, potential home buyers will be more likely to avoid these high-risk areas, he added. “When the risk really hits their bottom line, that decision is going to become more clear for them.”

To determine the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed housing data resource RealtyTrac’s 2015 Natural Disaster Housing Risk Report, which considered the potential for serious damage from wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. 24/7 Wall St. replicated the methodology and aggregated RealtyTrac county-level data on a metropolitan level. For each type of natural disaster, the likelihood of risk is assigned either as very low, low, moderate, high, or very high.

These are the cities with the most dangerous natural disasters.

10. Jackson, MS
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 2.2%

The residents of Jackson, Mississippi, are not at any significant risk of wildfires or earthquakes, but hurricanes and tornadoes pose a threat. Like large parts of the Louisiana and Mississippi, Jackson was in the path of Hurricane Katrina, among many other. According to the NOAA, Jackson is fourth most at risk from tornadoes of all metropolitan areas in the country. In 1966, one of the deadliest tornadoes in state history hit the city. The Candlestick Park tornado, which killed 58 people and injured hundreds, destroyed the Candlestick Park shopping center.

9. Hattiesburg, MS
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 37.6%

Hattiesburg is located much closer to the Gulf Coast than the state’s capital, Jacksonville, another city at high risk for natural disasters. For this reason, it has a lower risk of tornadoes hitting the city than Jackson, but a higher risk of being in the path of hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina, in particular, devastated parts of the city. During Katrina, the city sustained gusts of over 100 miles per hour, which destroyed and damaged numerous homes and businesses. Hattiesburg is also part of the Pine Belt, so named because of the abundant longleaf pines in the area. Perhaps for this reason, Hattiesburg is rated as one of the highest-risk areas for forest fires, with more than 37% of city acreage at the highest level of wildfires risk.

8. Tuscaloosa, AL
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 1.2%

Like much of the Gulf Coast, Tuscaloosa is at very high risk of hurricane damage as well as moderate risk of flooding. The city is also `at risk of being hit by serious tornadoes, which together make it one of the cities at the highest risk of serious natural disasters. According to the NOAA, only two metropolitan areas, Huntsville and Decatur, which are both in Alabama, have seen greater destruction from tornadoes than Tuscaloosa. In April 2011, 64 separate tornadoes hit the state. The worst of these, an EF-4 class, was the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado. The 1.5 miles wide tornado killed 65 people and injured approximately 1,500.

7. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 24.1%

The Augusta-Richmond metropolitan area, on the border of South Carolina and Georgia, is at high risk of wildfires. Roughly one-quarter of the metro area’s land mass is at very high risk of wildfires, which is 16th highest among the nation’s 382 metropolitan areas. Augusta is also at severe risk of damage from hurricanes. Many of the area’s worst storms happened in the late 1880s. According to The Augusta Chronicle, August hurricanes in 1881, 1893, and 1898, all of which made landfall in Savannah, decimated parts of Augusta. The 1881 storm alone killed 700 people. More recently, Hurricane Hugo tore through the region in 1989.

6. Columbia, SC
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very High Risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 19.8%

Columbia, South Carolina, is at relatively low risk of tornadoes, flooding, or earthquakes. However, like Augusta, the metropolitan area is under the threat of both severe wildfires and hurricanes. Nearly one-fifth of the region’s land is at the highest level of risk of a serious fire. The region has been in the path of major storms such as Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which made landfall just north of Charleston as a category 4 hurricane and moved inland. Hugo was responsible for an estimated $7 billion in damage in the United States.

5. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
>Natural disaster index: 130
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Moderate risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 21.1%

Most of the areas with the most dangerous weather are in the southeastern part of the country, where hurricanes are a factor. The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, known as the Inland Empire, spans more than 27,000 square miles and encompasses a significant portion of the inland area of California. The San Andreas Fault — the divide between the Pacific and North American plates — goes through the region and runs through the middle of San Bernardino. The fault has been the cause of the many earthquakes that have hit parts of California over the years, including the devastating 1906 San Francisco quake. According to the United States Geological Survey, there is an 89% chance that a 5.0 magnitude earthquake will hit the region in the next 50 years.

4. Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville, AL
>Natural disaster index: 135
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 1
>Hurricane risk: High risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 14.1%

The Anniston, Alabama metropolitan area is at moderate risk of flooding, and high risk of wildfires. Like many of the cities with the most dangerous weather, the biggest risks to the area are hurricanes and tornadoes. On Palm Sunday, 1994, a massive outbreak of tornadoes swept across parts of the southeastern US, killing 42 people and injuring more than 300, including one person in the metropolitan area.

3. Birmingham-Hoover, AL
>Natural disaster index: 135
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 8.4%

Birmingham, located in the central part of Alabama, is tied with nearby Anniston-Oxford-Jacksonville for the third worst risk of severe weather among U.S. metropolitan areas. Residents and homes in the area are at high risk of both wildfires and hurricanes, although neither type of natural disaster is at the highest threat level. Tornadoes represent the biggest risk to Birmingham area residents, with the metro area ranking fifth worst in the country for damage from tornadoes between 2001 and 2013. The region has been hit by several major tornado outbreaks. One was the 1977 Smithfield tornado, a category F5 tornado that touched down in a Jefferson County suburb and killed 22 people.

2. Rome, GA
>Natural disaster index: 160
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 2
>Hurricane risk: High risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 20.4%

Rome’s population is at relatively high risk of hurricanes, but the biggest natural disaster threats in the state are wildfires and tornadoes. More than one-fifth of the region is at the highest level of risk of wildfires. Like much of Georgia, the region has been hit by several severe tornado events. In 2012, one tornado that touched down in downtown Rome, left a three mile trail of destruction. While the tornado was only a category EF1, it still damaged dozens of homes.

1. Fayetteville, NC
>Natural disaster index: 180
>No. of natural disaster types at risk for: 3
>Hurricane risk: Very high risk
>Pct. area at risk of wildfires: 19.0%

No metropolitan area in the country is at bigger risk of destruction from natural disaster than Fayetteville, North Carolina. No other metro area is at the highest level of risk for three separate types of major natural disasters. Roughly 20% of the region it at severe risk of wildfires. The region, which includes Cumberland and Hoke counties, is also at the highest threat level for tornadoes. In 2011, a tornado touched down in Fayetteville, killing two, wounding 85, and destroying hundreds of homes. The biggest threat to the area, however, are hurricanes. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel tore through the Carolinas. Sustained winds of 85 miles per hour with gusts of up to 110 miles per hour were recorded in Fayetteville. Other major storms to hit the region include Floyd, and Hugo.

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