(NEXSTAR) – Think you live in a safe neighborhood? An interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau may change your mind about just how safe it is where you live.
The map isn’t tracking things like crime rates or car accidents. Instead, it measures the threat level in every census tract of natural disasters, like earthquakes, fires, floods, severe storms and more.
More specifically, the Census Bureau is measuring what percentage of the local population is considered “socially vulnerable” to a disaster. A population is considered socially vulnerable if there are high poverty levels, crowded housing, a large elderly population, difficult vehicle access or large communication barriers – all of which make it harder to get to safety in case of a disaster…