Philadelphia, PA, USA
Hazard Type
Local Hazard?
Information Source
Information Circulation
Earthquake
Low risk. Pennsylvania is in a fairly low risk zone. Philadelphia is in a 10-20% 50 year risk zone. There was a 5.8 earthquake in Richmond Virginia in 2011 that was felt in Philadelphia, but without major adverse effects.
USGS Seismic Hazard Map (also used for other U.S. cities)
Richmond Earthquake
Philadelphia was not shown on the map, and it was hard to decide if it was in the 10-14% or 15-20% zone.
Flooding
Moderate risk. FEMA maps available for Philadelphia, but much less info on recent storms than for NYC and Albany. On the Delaware River and near Atlantic Ocean (Flooding risk from Hurricanes).
Open Data Philly
Hard to find information. Lots of information was tangled in climate change data or in insurance data. Note: When searching flooding in Philadelphia, there were more advertisements for flood insurance than in similar searches for NYC and Albany.
Hurricanes
Moderate to high risk. Philadelphia is considered a coastal city (61 miles from Atlantic Ocean). Severe flooding and increasing hurricane events. I.e. Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy.
List of Hurricanes
List of hurricanes easily found. Hurricane data not very circulated. Articles on hurricane effects well circulated.

15 years, there has been on Fujita Scale 0 tornado in Philadelphia County.
List of Philadelphia county tornadoes.
Slightly obsure website, same data also available through NOAA (selectively circulated).
Nuclear Facility
In evacuation radius of Limerick Generating Station (PA). 53.4 miles (evacuation radius is 50 miles) from Salem Generating Station (NJ) and Hope Creek Generating Station (NJ). About 60 miles from Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (NJ), on the border of evacuation radius. WIthin 100 miles of Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (PA). High risk for negative effects caused by reactor breakdown. Also at high risk for property damage and permanent loss in breakdown event.
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Not many articles about risk to the city of Philadelphia were easily found. It was easy to access website and utilize database maps of nuclear reactors. To search mileage between reactors and sites, used Google Maps and exact names had to be used. If an address is used, only reactors within 50 miles are shown, while there could be more on the edge of that zone.
Chemical Facility (hazardous waste)
High Risk. At least 10 chemical facilities (and at least 2 major facilities of Honeywell and Dow Chemical) around the city or on the same waterway as Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Facilities
No aggregate data, used Google Maps Search.
Sewage Treatment Facility (hazardous waste)
Low for City Center. At least two treatment plants about 20 miles away. Most of plants are in suburbs.
Google Maps Search Philadelphia
No database for sewage treatment plants, had to individually search for sewage treatment. Some plants were under different names (Waste water treatment, waste water disposal, etc.), other businesses included in search so they had to be investigated (some "County Offices" were treatment plants).
Climate Change
Philadelphia is ranked #10 on US cities (with populations greater than 200,000) affected by climate change. Criterion were "..Cities with a population greater than 200,000 people... sea-level rise, extreme precipitation and drought, urban heat islands, and changes to average temperature and precipitation, giving more weight to certain factors. The Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Sustainability has seriously addressed these concerns in a 82 page packet about Climate Change and why it matters in Philadelphia.
Weather.com ranking.
Climate Change Packet
Found through this article on Metro.us.
The packet was also noted in the same article, it was moderately difficult to find with different search keys, but the pdf is accessible to the public.
Severe Heat (Climate Change)
Growing risk. By the end of the century the number of days above 95 degrees F is predicted to increase by four to ten times. The number of days above 100 degrees could reach 16 per year. Climate change, and related severe heat are well represented in Philadephia's recent "Growing Stronger" pamphlet. Severe heat can increase health risks as well as have economic detriments due to increased operating costs.
Growing Stronger
Well circulated pamphlet. Used for other climate based data in this research.
Winter Weather
Four Top 10 Record Snowfalls in the last decade. 2009 (23.2"), 2010 (21.9"), 2011 (15.1"), 2016 (22.4").
The Philly
ABC News
Hard to find NESIS data, even though Philadelphia is in the Northeast. However snowfall data was easily found.
Fracking (Water Contamination)
Moderate to high risk. Fracking takes place in Western Pennsylvania. However fracking around the Delaware River Basin has been stopped.
Fracking Map
Delaware Basin
State impact website and Yale University research website.
Drug Abuse (Heroin)
Heroin use has been on a steady increase in Philadelphia. The Badlands area is where heroin is often solf, and there are a few areas in Philadelphia with a significantly decreased police intervention, which has currently unknown long term effects.
Heroin Use 1
Heroin Use 2
Police Role
Well circulated national drug data (studies on local areas), The Daily Beast, American online blog/paper.
Suicide
Moderate risk. Philadelphia has a suicide rate of 9.4/100,000 in 2014. In the same year, the national figure was 12.6/100,000.
Philadelphia suicide data
National suicide data
Philadelphia's suicide data was moderately difficult to find. However, there was a pdf report of 2014 Community Health Statistics that was available online.