Delaware
Is Delaware a good place to survive a zombie apocalypse? How the First State fares
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Many people pride themselves on their survival skills, assuming they would easily make it out of a zombie apocalypse alive.
But how well you’ve prepared yourself may not mean much if your location is working against you, especially in Delaware.
Is Delaware a good state to survive a zombie apocalypse in?
Casino.org, an online gaming website, compiled data for each state to determine which offered the highest and lowest chances of survival during a zombie apocalypse. They first asked ChatGPT to create general criteria for their Zombie Apocalypse Survival Index and then grouped some of the suggested factors into different weighted categories.
Environmental, weighted at a total of 36%, features:
- Population density per square mile, weighted at 7%.
- Firearm ownership rates, weighted at 10%.
- Freshwater accessibility (Water surface area per square mile), weighted at 9%.
- Crime rate per 100,000 people, weighted at 4%.
- Number of gas stations, weighted at 6%.
Hiding spots, weighted at a total of 25%, features:
- Number of farms, weighted at 7%,
- Number of army bases, weighted at 10%.
- Number of prisons, weighted at 8%.
Valuable professions, weighted at a total of 49%, features:
- Number of military and law enforcement workers per capita, weighted at 10%.
- Number of healthcare professionals per capita, weighted at 12%.
- Number of scientists and engineers per capita, weighted at 10%.
- Number of farmers per capita, weighted at 7%.
Each state was then scored on a scale from 0 to 100 to find the states where residents are most likely and least likely to survive a zombie apocalypse.
According to the findings, the First State is one of the places you don’t want to be when catastrophe strikes.
Delaware ranked No. 4, with a score of 17.64, for the worst states for zombie apocalypse survival nationwide.
Only 5% of Delaware population consists of valuable apocalyptic professions. With Delaware reporting the sixth highest population density and a low firearm ownership rate at 38.7%, Casino.org found that it would be “too crowded and impossible to defend yourself against zombies and traitors.”
Aside from the factors hindering the survival of Delawareans, the Small Wonder has the second lowest freshwater availability in the nation, along with only 2,300 farms, four army bases and four prisons available for 1.08 million residents to potentially hide in.
ICYMI: Need a cool down? Check out these caves and caverns near Delaware
Best and worst states to survive a zombie apocalypse in
Along with Delaware, the other states in the bottom five for apocalypse survival are:
- Rhode Island at No.1, with a score of 0.
- New Jersey at No. 2, with a score of 10.12
- Connecticut at No. 3, with a score of 10.97.
- Nevada at No. 5, with a score of 21.47.
The states where you will have the best chances of apocalypse survival are:
- California at No. 1, with a score of 100.
- Texas at No. 2, with a score of 88.39.
- Florida at No. 3, with a score of 73.28.
- Virginia at No. 4, with a score of 66.31.
- Michigan at No. 5, with a score of 64. 51.
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys’tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
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The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 21, 1926
Jealous man kills woman, wounds boy
Oliver K. Higgins, aged 33 years, of Washington Street, in a fit of jealousy late Saturday night, is alleged to have pumped seven bullets from an automatic revolver into Mrs. Edna M. Martin, 40 years old, of Spruce Street, killing her.
Charles Brown, the 15-year-old of Mrs. Gladys Brown, was shot in the jaw and shoulder by Higgins but will recover. Mrs. Brown, also of the Spruce Street address, is the sister of the slain woman. …
Mrs. Martin, who was employed by the Home Baking Company on Market Street, left the store at a late hour Saturday night, accompanied by Paul A. Crawford of Marshallton and went home. They found Mrs. Brown sitting in the dining room with Julius K. Bowman of Newport.
The women and men sat around the table for a short time. At 11:45 o’clock, hearing someone taking out a window screen in the parlor, Mrs. Brown went to the hall to see what caused the noise.
She saw Higgins step in the window with a gun in his hand. She opened the door and ran off the porch.
Higgins failed to see Mrs. Brown and continued to the dining room where Mrs. Martin and the two men were sitting. He leveled the revolver at their heads and said, “Stick your hands up everybody, and I don’t mean maybe.”
Higgins then asked for Mrs. Brown. Learning she had gone out the front door, he ran after her, passing her as she crouched behind a hedge a few feet from the doorway. He returned to the dining room, but the men had fled. He then turned to Mrs. Martin and fired as she ran. …
Leaving the dead woman at the head of the steps, Higgins rushed in the back room in search of Mrs. Brown. Charles Brown, who had been sleeping, awoke because of the noise. …
Hearing the boy going down the stairs, Higgins stepped to the stair rail and shot him twice. …
Mrs. Brown went to the drug store of Otto H. Miller at 22nd and Pine streets to telephone police. …
Officers surrounded the Brown house … and arrested Higgins. …
Higgins met Mrs. Brown several months ago when he was in the employ of the United Cigar Store, and Mrs. Brown was working nearby. He is said to have become jealous over the attention of other men to Mrs. Brown, who is divorced. She asked him to stop annoying her and appealed to police.
After Higgins threatened Mrs. Brown with a gun, she told her employer who called the United Cigar Company and made a complaint to the manager. Shortly after this, Higgins was discharged.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 23, 1976
Bill would jail parents of delinquent kids
A tough measure that provides for jailing the parents of delinquent children or requiring them to spend weekends with delinquents at juvenile detention centers has been introduced in the Delaware Senate.
The bill is the brainchild of the community-based services staff of the juvenile corrections bureau.
“This gives a way to coax them (the parents),” said John J. Mulvena, juvenile corrections chief. “If not to coax them, to require them. If not require them, jail them.”
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Herman Holloway Sr., D-Wilmington.
Mulvena said it is “directed at parents who are reluctant to participate in the responsible supervision of their children.”
He said due to “stubbornness, ignorance or neglect,” his staff often ends up acting as “mother, father, aunt, uncle or surrogate” for children “while the parents get off scot-free.”
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 26, 2006
Storms wallop Sussex with 6-8 inches of rain
Jack English knew he was in trouble early Sunday morning.
He kept waking up to the sound of his Seaford basement sump pump trying to keep up with the downpour outside….
At first, he found a few inches of water on his basement floor. Then, all of a sudden, his backyard was completely flooded and the rising water blew out his basement window. …
“I was evacuated by the fire department,” he said. …
In six to eight hours, 7 inches fell in Bridgeville, more than 8 inches in Georgetown and nearly 6 inches in Laurel….
The Seaford Fire Company had its first sign of trouble at 7:30 a.m., when a crew responded to a person trapped in a car by rising water. As the morning went on, rescue crews turned to boats.
An estimated 300 people were evacuated from homes at three mobile home parks southeast of Blades.
Meanwhile, in Seaford, concern grew as water levels rose in the Nanticoke River and Williams Pond. As a precaution, 110 residents of Lifecare at Lofland Park rehabilitation center were evacuated to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital. …
At the Seaford Walmart, a team of swift water rescuers from Salisbury, Maryland helped people trapped in the parking lot, with water up to the top of some cars. …
Bridges at Craigs Mill Road and Woodland Road washed out. …
The American Red Cross opened a shelter at Woodbridge High School in Bridgeville. About 30 people were staying there Sunday night.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — All lanes closed on I-69 in the southbound direction in Delaware County on Friday morning.
Authorities with the Indiana State Police were dispatched to the 240.5 mile marker on a report of a crash involving a semi at approximately 8:08 a.m.
All lanes are now open.
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