While Pennsylvania is generally aligned with New Jersey and New York in number of climate-related disasters over the past 20 years, its suburbs, including Montgomery County, are not.

As evidenced by the calamity of Hurricane Ida, most of the Philadelphia collar counties have gotten walloped by Mother Nature in her various tantrums. Taylor Allen and Mike D’Onofrio charted the story for AXIOS.

In the last 20 years, Northeast and Southeast Pennsylvania have been vulnerable to heavier storms and flooding.

During that period, Montgomery, Chester, and Bucks Counties have dealt with 10-15 major weather-related disasters. Delaware County was a bit safer with only 5-10 climate-related calamities.

Global warming seems to be the culprit, according to an analysis by Yale Climate Connections, as cited by AXIOS.

Higher temperatures increase rates of evaporation from oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. Under the right conditions, when all that water vapor falls, it is increasingly dropping as heavy rain or accumulating snow.

Read more about local climate disasters by county in the AXIOS.

Hurricane Ida surprised many in the collar counties with heavy rains, flooding, and tornados, as CNBC reported, in September 2021, when the remnants of the tropical storm brought havoc to the area.