New 2026 Report: North Dakota Excels in Disaster Preparedness

Disaster can strike at any minute. Tornadoes, wind storms, nuclear blasts - you never know what will happen in the future. We always hope we’re prepared for anything and everything, but do we actually know how prepared our state is for any given disaster or catastrophic event?

Smilehub.org, looked at the resilience and infrastructure support, disaster prevention planning and funding, disaster risk and and lasting damage reports to rank each state for disaster preparedness. (Physicians per capita, national guard members per capita, mental health counselors per capita, fire/police stations per capita, emergency management budget per capita, public health funding per capita, etc.)

(Also Read: 5 Tornado Myths That Put North Dakotans At Risk)

Least Prepared

Let’s look at the state that’s the least prepared for disaster, before we get into North Dakota. Sadly, Mississippi is the least prepared state in the country; its total score is only 24.78.

It’s resilience and infrastructure and support capacity rank is very low all the way down at 49, and disaster funding ranks at 32 among other states.

What About North Dakota?

You’ll probably be happy to hear the North Dakota is one of the most disaster ready states according to the source. Last year, we ranked as the fourth-most-prepared state; sadly, we've slipped to the 6th spot this year.

We come in at number four with a total score of 53.03. We rank fifth in resilience, infrastructure, and support capacity. We rank 8th for disaster prevention planning and funding and 34th for disaster risk and lasting damage.

The Most Disaster Ready State?

The honor of "Most Disaster Ready State" goes to Vermont, switching spots with Massachusetts from last year's ranking.

Even though North Dakota moved down a couple spots this year, we can be proud of the fact that, we are in the top ten, and continue to keep our citizens ready for anything.

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Source: North Dakota Ranked For Disaster Preparedness In 2026

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