# Safest Plce in U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955 "2018-02-16T20:59:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/1 "2018-02-16T20:59:01Z")
In terms of natural disaster, which U.S. state and which foreign nation are safest (i.e., least vulnerable to hurricanes, floods, etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/2 "2018-02-16T21:04:39Z")
It’s not a State but the intermountain regions of Washington and Oregon are pretty stable ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/3 "2018-02-16T21:21:45Z")
[https://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/safest\_places\_from\_natural\_disasters.aspx](https://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/safest_places_from_natural_disasters.aspx) I’ll let you find the state with the least number of dots yourself. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/4 "2018-02-16T21:40:25Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > [Safest Places from Natural Disasters](https://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/safest_places_from_natural_disasters.aspx) > > I’ll let you find the state with the least number of dots yourself. Those dots just represent metro areas, so it wouldn’t really show which state is safer. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/5 "2018-02-16T22:07:10Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Those dots just represent metro areas, so it wouldn’t really show which state is safer. Honestly, that’s kind of like the “if a tree falls…” thing. Sure, “natural disasters” happen out in the middle of nowhere. But if nobody’s there, who cares? Are they really THAT “disastrous”? Sure, I wouldn’t have wanted to be around the Tunguska event, but I don’t think it was a disaster. Your risk of getting killed in an earthquake out in the middle of nowhere is going to be less than if you’re surrounded by high rises. At the same time though, if something bad does happen, you’re kind of on your own. I think it comes down to how resourceful and prepared you are. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/6 "2018-02-16T22:12:27Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Honestly, that’s kind of like the “if a tree falls…” thing. Sure, “natural disasters” happen out in the middle of nowhere. But if nobody’s there, who cares? Are they really THAT “disastrous”? > > Your risk of getting killed in an earthquake out in the middle of nowhere is going to be less than if you’re surrounded by high rises. At the same time though, if something bad does happen, you’re kind of on your own. I think it comes down to how resourceful and prepared you are. I’m saying that the number of dots is in not correlated with number of natural disasters. so counting up the dots on the list won’t tell you anything. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/7 "2018-02-16T22:20:01Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I’m saying that the number of dots is in not correlated with number of natural disasters. so counting up the dots on the list won’t tell you anything. Alright, raw occurrences. Then we can deduce, I suppose, that WA looks pretty safe. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near there during the next “big one,” or if Mt. Rainier goes off. Yikes. At least that crap can’t happen where I live. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/8 "2018-02-16T22:53:43Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > It’s not a State but the intermountain regions of Washington and Oregon are pretty stable Umm…[EXCUSE ME?!?!?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/9 "2018-02-16T23:34:37Z")
Would you count susceptibility to drought? That might include more places. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/10 "2018-02-17T00:05:32Z")
Depends on how finely you define natural disaster, A summer heat wave in the Midwest always generates news reports of people who died from the heat. What about winter blizzards, do they count as natural disasters? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/11 "2018-02-17T00:58:20Z")
Big Island of Hawaii several miles north of Hilo (where my home is). Hurricane? No major ( or even minor) hurricanes in recorded history, (Hundreds of years.) Tsunami? Eighty foot cliff above the ocean 3/4 mile from home. Volcanic eruption? Mauna Kea (behind home) last erupted 5000 years ago. Its terrain would block any lava flow from Mauna Loa. Tornado? Terrain is too mountainous. Flooding? Island is made from very porous volcanic rock. Even after an historic 26 inch rainfall in 24 hours, there was no standing water on property. Drought? Last year 185 inches of rain, Year before 235’. Earthquake? Was here for a major 7.2 earthquake. So what? The ground shook violently for almost a minute, but there was no damage to home. Food shortage? Year round growing season. Fertile soil with plenty of rain for irrigating crops. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/12 "2018-02-17T02:10:06Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Big Island of Hawaii several miles north of Hilo (where my home is). Assuming those volcanoes continue to mind their manners, your particular plot of ground on the Big Island seems fairly safe. (I’m familiar with that area, and know it to be also quite beautiful - in my admittedly outside-the-mainstream view, among the best locations in Hawaii). But the OP specified a state, and taken as a whole Hawaii probably doesn’t qualify as the safest. Among other possibilities, there’s the threat of a [megatsunami](http://www.iflscience.com/environment/hawaii-could-be-risk-mega-tsunami-next-50-years/). This could come from a seismic event elsewhere (e.g. Alaska), or could be “home-brewed”. One scenario is that the southern flank of Mauna Loa slumps off, with many dozens of cubic miles of rock and soil sliding into the ocean. The resulting wave could be hundreds of feet high (the extreme estimates run to 1000m). Such a wave would cause catastrophic damage thousands of miles away; closer to home, it would pretty much erase Honolulu from the map. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/13 "2018-02-17T02:58:50Z")
Ohio ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/14 "2018-02-17T03:04:28Z")
Any place you can quickly flee to Canada? It just feels like it ought to be safer up there. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/15 "2018-02-17T04:06:52Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Any place you can quickly flee to Canada? It just feels like it ought to be safer up there. Well, your feelings _are_ less likely to be hurt in Canada. I moved to Santa Fe a couple of years ago, which I now realize is one of the few places that is out of range of both hurricanes and (probably) N Korea. It’s in the lowest risk category for natural disasters (it’s the small dark green circle NE of the large pale green circle that is Albuquerque.) > **[Where to Live to Avoid a Natural Disaster](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/01/weekinreview/01safe.html)** > > Weather disasters and quakes: who’s most at risk? An attempt to assess a combination of those risks in 379 American metro areas. Climate change presents some risk to water supplies, but at 7000’ with mountains nearby it probably has more secure water supplies than many desert areas. Or they could do something _really_ dumb at Los Alamos, but it’s 30 miles away. [http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/near-disaster-federal-nuclear-weapons-laboratory-takes-hidden-toll-america-s-arsenal](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/near-disaster-federal-nuclear-weapons-laboratory-takes-hidden-toll-america-s-arsenal) So, I plan to die either of old age or base jumping. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/16 "2018-02-17T17:42:07Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > It’s not a State but the intermountain regions of Washington and Oregon are pretty stable Aren’t those areas prone to the massive wild fires that occur throughout much of The West? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/17 "2018-02-17T17:43:58Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Well, your feelings _are_ less likely to be hurt in Canada. > > I moved to Santa Fe a couple of years ago, which I now realize is one of the few places that is out of range of both hurricanes and (probably) N Korea. It’s in the lowest risk category for natural disasters (it’s the small dark green circle NE of the large pale green circle that is Albuquerque.) > > [Where to Live to Avoid a Natural Disaster - Map - NYTimes.com](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/05/01/weekinreview/01safe.html) > > Climate change presents some risk to water supplies, but at 7000’ with mountains nearby it probably has more secure water supplies than many desert areas. > > Or they could do something _really_ dumb at Los Alamos, but it’s 30 miles away. > [http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/near-disaster-federal-nuclear-weapons-laboratory-takes-hidden-toll-america-s-arsenal](http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/near-disaster-federal-nuclear-weapons-laboratory-takes-hidden-toll-america-s-arsenal) > > So, I plan to die either of old age or base jumping. Doesn’t New Mexico also routinely have massive wildfires? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/18 "2018-02-17T18:12:19Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Doesn’t New Mexico also routinely have massive wildfires? Cacti and sand don’t burn well. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/19 "2018-02-17T18:27:39Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Assuming those volcanoes continue to mind their manners, your particular plot of ground on the Big Island seems fairly safe. (I’m familiar with that area, and know it to be also quite beautiful - in my admittedly outside-the-mainstream view, among the best locations in Hawaii). > > But the OP specified a state, and taken as a whole Hawaii probably doesn’t qualify as the safest. No one lives in a State. Many States are huge with northern portions differing greatly from southern areas. No one really even lives in a city. People live in neighborhoods in a city. If your neighborhood is near the river that flows through the city, your home could be flooded, but someone who lives in the same city far from the river would be unaffected. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955/20 "2018-02-17T18:36:21Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Doesn’t New Mexico also routinely have massive wildfires? > [@Mangosteen](#): > > Cacti and sand don’t burn well. We do have forests, and dorvann is right that we do seem to have rather a lot of fires in proportion to the amount of forest we have. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safest-plce-in-u-s/808955.md?page=2)