Texas named one of the most disaster-prone states in US

Texas is the second most disaster-prone state in the country, according to an analysis by Forbes Advisor.

The high ranking may not be a surprise to Texans. In the past few months, they've experienced deadly tornados , 400-acre wildfires , and heat deaths and days-long power outages in the wake of Tropical Storm Beryl.

However, the entire country has seen an increase in natural disasters.

Over the last five years, the U.S. has experienced an average of 20 climate disasters each year, which caused over $1 billion dollars of damage, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. In the early 2000s, the average was 6.7 per year.

In 2023, 28 climate disasters caused $95.1 billion in damage in America and resulted in 492 fatalities.

"In some states, Americans are more likely to face devastating and costly weather events," Forbes Advisor said in a news release.

Nine of the top 10 states Forbes Advisor identified as most vulnerable to natural disasters are located in the South. The Lone Star State placed second, behind Louisiana.

Texas experienced $90 billion climate disasters between 2014 and 2023 — the most of any other state. It also had 36 Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations during that time, the sixth-most in the country.

Average annual homeowners insurance premiums in the Lone Star State are $2,226, the ninth-highest in the U.S., according to Forbes Advisor.

Consequences of natural disasters are more than financial, however.

"Pollution from sewage, of course, can make people sick," said Weihsueh Chiu, a professor at Texas A&M University and the deputy director of its Superfund Research Center, in a SciLine interview .

"High levels of air pollution can cause headaches and other respiratory symptoms — trouble, breathing, coughing. Longer term effects like cancer depends on how much and how long the pollutants stick around."

Forbes Advisor's top 10 states most vulnerable to natural disasters are:

South Carolina