My town of Douglassville, Pennsylvania is under threat from tropical cyclone activity. This may not make sense due to the distance from the coast, but my area experienced flooding, power outages, and high winds from Hurricane Sandy. I live right near a river, so there is a threat of the water level rising. The biggest threats to my area are meteorological and hydrological hazards. My area has a surprisingly high frequency of tornadoes and snowstorms. I am in zone 0 for earthquakes. There is  a nuclear power plant about thirty minutes from my home. If a storm were to rupture the plant, my area would be in range of a nuclear disaster. The area around the plant is wealthy and well populated. There would be a tremendous amount of damage causing a huge loss in money. The Nathan map is very broad. Large portions of the map have no hazard shown so it is difficult to figure out if the area you are looking for possibly gets any form of natural hazard.

I chose an earthquake in Oklahoma with a magnitude of 4.2. Earthquakes are very rare in my hometown. If a large earthquake were to occur in my hometown, there would be a high risk because my area was not built to sustain earthquakes. There is not a substantial amount of tectonic plate activity in my area. The earthquake in Oklahoma is occurring in a non-populated flat area. The scale would be very different in my area. The damage would be greater because there would be a human factor in the outcome of the quake. The damage of property will cost a lot because I live in a wealthy area but there are poorer residents who would struggle with rebuilding or health care costs. They also may not have sufficient insurance. A good way to reduce vulnerability would be to construct buildings that can withstand earthquakes and improve local pre-event preparedness.
My town faces the meteorological natural hazard of tornadoes. Based on historical tornado events in my area, Douglassville has a higher chance of tornado events than the state of Pennsylvania. According to usa.com, Douglassville also has a higher tornado index value than the country. This is due to the fact that there have been a long history of tornadoes occurring in southeastern Pennsylvania causing millions of dollars in damage. The past tornados have not had large magnitudes, but they didn’t have to be to cause damage to closely located neighborhoods. I live in an automobile suburb so there are a lot of suburban neighborhoods with many houses. Because of the social nature of the area, the largest vulnerability is the cost of rebuilding.
“Douglassville, PA Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes.” USA.com. Accessed March 29, 2016. http://www.usa.com/douglassville-pa-natural-disasters-extremes.htm.

In order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards in my town, I believe the local area should improve their warning system. They should be able to notify homes and businesses in a good amount of time before the disaster strikes so the citizens can be prepared. The local emergency response crews should be trained specifically for handling flooding and tornado damage. These two natural hazards are the most popular in the area and they lead to other problems such as power outages. In the reconstruction period, the local government needs to have a plan where they can get “all hands on deck”. This includes calling in linesman to amend powerlines and clean-up crews to clear debris in populated areas. There should be a mandate that depending on the severity of the damage, no person besides emergency personnel can go to work or school for a certain amount of time. The best thing I can do is follow these rules and not be a part of the problem.