To determine which states are best prepared for an environmental disaster or a public health emergency, 24/7 Wall St. rated states based on criteria determined by the National Health Security Preparedness Index, a program of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. For each state, we reviewed certain disaster preparedness policies, such as whether the state mandates child-care facilities to have emergency evacuation plans, whether state public health labs have enough staff to properly combat a serious disease outbreak, and whether the state has a firm plan to combat issues that can stem from climate change. Currently, just 15 states have such a plan.

We also reviewed states on measures including the number of physicians and emergency medical technicians per capita, as well as changes in emergency management funding.