American Cities and Disaster Response Ratings

Only six American metropolitan areas earned the highest grades for their emergency agencies' ability to communicate during a disaster. The report is available in PDF form.

The best places to be rescued are the odd mix of Washington, San Diego, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Columbus, Sioux Falls, and Laramie county, Wyoming. The worst places to be in a disaster are the equally odd mix of Chicago, Cleveland, Baton Rouge, Mandan, and American Samoa.

What does this all mean? Well, size does not matter either way. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is no center of the universe. Cities like San Fransisco are huge centers of trade yet have weak scores. So having money and resources is one thing but putting them to good use is another thing entirely.