# What area of the U.S. is least prone to natural disasters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086 "2011-04-28T22:40:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/21 "2011-04-29T01:40:22Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Central Valley in California. Local flooded streets with very heavy rainfall is as bad as it gets. [1983 Coalinga Earthquake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Coalinga_earthquake) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/22 "2011-04-29T01:42:52Z")
Not much happens in Southeast Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Goggles03](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Goggles03](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goggles03)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/23 "2011-04-29T01:50:23Z")
Check these out: [http://www.globaldatavault.com/natural-disaster-threat-maps.htm](http://www.globaldatavault.com/natural-disaster-threat-maps.htm) [http://www.usatoday.com/life/graphics/natural\_disasters/flash.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/life/graphics/natural_disasters/flash.htm) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/24 "2011-04-29T02:19:08Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > [ul] > [li]WV, VA, MD, DC - ?[/li][/ul] An occasional slight hurricane, slight drought, and rare small tornado. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/25 "2011-04-29T02:24:51Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Several good additions. But note that I was trying to list natural disasters that are particularly likely in a given state. Not just possible in a given state. I mean, Alabama is currently experiencing some of the worst tornadoes in the history of the country, but “tornado” aren’t on the list for Alabama because tornadoes are an aberration there. Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in AK, OR and WA. There are cyclic “rolling earthquakes,” unique to the Cascadia Subduction Zone that last for months. Their total energy output may exceed what recently occurred in Japan, or Indonesia a few years back. And the quake of 1700 would make the recent Japan quake a mere hippy hippy shake in comparison. The hottest volcanic activity in the Lower 48 is Mount St. Helens (WA) and the Sisters uplift (OR). AK volcanic activity is “regular,” often in remote areas. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/26 "2011-04-29T02:32:04Z")
Define “area.” We actually had a bunch of tornadoes pass through last night and one last month, but I consider east Tn to be virtually disaster free. The only other tornado I have heard of is one that did light damage in the early 70s. Unless global warming is making this tornado alley, I don’t expect to see another one for many years. That USAToday link says Tn has earthquakes. The western border of Tn is on a fault line that has potential to cause a major earthquake, but hasn’t done anything in 200 years and has a lack of fault movement that makes some think it’s dying down and won’t ever do anything. That’s on the western border and could potentially wipe out Memphis, but it’s 400 miles from me in east Tn. I’d never say my area is prone to earthquakes. It also says we have ice storms. Once in my 33 year life we had an ice storm. Last winter, it rained over night and got cold and there was ice on the roads. It wasn’t just black ice, everything was coated, so I’d agree it was an ice storm. There were some wrecks but it was gone by 10am. Is it a natural disaster if it only affects people who are driving and only causes a small percentage to have fender benders? lightning and thunderstorms- I’d agree that we get more storm damage than somewhere that doesn’t get storms, but not that our storms are disastrous. Ok, last night’s was but hopefully that was once in a lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/27 "2011-04-29T02:36:38Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > [li]WV, VA, MD, DC - ?[/li] In my lifetime, Northern Virginia/DC area has gotten clipped by a hurricane or two, usually one that did a lot more damage to some neighboring locality. DC got a really bad snowstorm (4-6 feet) in the mid-90s, but this was atypical. Floods are a bit more common, but the Potomac only goes nuts once every three or four years. Except for the DelMarVa peninsula, we’re pretty immune to tsunamis (Like most of the mid-Atlantic states, we actually have very little beachfront). No serious forest fires, bee swarms or earthquakes (The last earthquake to impact us actually occurred in Indiana and we just got a gentle jostling). No nearby volcanoes, although some ash from Mt. St. Helens landed–sparsely–in Tidewater once. Drought is rare, although once the Potomac was so low that a kayaker was able to safely go down Great Falls, repeatedly (I sat and watched him). ---
**Author:** ![Anticounterrevolutionary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Anticounterrevolutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anticounterrevolutionary)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/28 "2011-04-29T03:03:26Z")
Using the criteria of the number of federally declared disasters coupled with per-capita fatality rate due to natural disasters, the 3 safest states are Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/29 "2011-04-29T03:30:39Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > [1983 Coalinga Earthquake](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Coalinga_earthquake) Not a natural disaster, exactly, but Tule fog is pretty bad. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/30 "2011-04-29T04:09:10Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Earthquakes are a daily occurrence in AK, OR and WA. There are cyclic “rolling earthquakes,” unique to the Cascadia Subduction Zone that last for months. Their total energy output may exceed what recently occurred in Japan, or Indonesia a few years back. And the quake of 1700 would make the recent Japan quake a mere hippy hippy shake in comparison. The hottest volcanic activity in the Lower 48 is Mount St. Helens (WA) and the Sisters uplift (OR). AK volcanic activity is “regular,” often in remote areas. You can break it down by state if you want but eastern WA and OR along with the ID panhandle are pretty safe from disaster. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/31 "2011-04-29T05:28:17Z")
new jersey pine barrens. just your occasional controlled forest fire that’s actually a necessity to control the pine trees. also the occasional encounter with the jersey devil. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/32 "2011-04-29T05:29:15Z")
Years ago I heard a survivalist plug Idaho as “safe”. They did have a humongous fire in 1910 though. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/33 "2011-04-29T06:07:46Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Several good additions. But note that I was trying to list natural disasters that are particularly likely in a given state. Not just possible in a given state. I mean, Alabama is currently experiencing some of the worst tornadoes in the history of the country, but “tornado” aren’t on the list for Alabama because tornadoes are an aberration there. If you look at the first link provided by Goggle03, the tornado risk map shows that parts of AL, as well as AR, KY, TN, IN, and OH are some of the highest risk areas. As far as a major earthquake in the Northwest goes, the question is when, not if. I did say something wrong in my post. That was about the noncyclonic-storm danger in OR and WA. I was thinking of the [Columbus Day storm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962) and similar storms that we get every 10 or 15 years. It turns out those are cyclonic, although they don’t call them hurricanes or cyclones. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/34 "2011-04-29T06:18:13Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > If you look at the first link provided by Goggle03, the tornado risk map shows that parts of AL, as well as AR, KY, TN, IN, and OH are some of the highest risk areas. That’s very interesting. I assumed that anything outside of tornado alley would have lower-than-average tornado likelihood, but comparing the two maps (and assuming the one on the cited page is accurate), it seems that “tornado alley” is itself a bit of a misconception. (Typical tornado alley map [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:T_alley.jpg)). ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/35 "2011-04-29T06:24:32Z")
Colorado gets tornadoes and wildfires every summer. This year the fires started early, but it’s still generally too cool for tornadoes. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/36 "2011-04-29T06:34:44Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Years ago I heard a survivalist plug Idaho as “safe”. They did have a humongous fire in 1910 though. They also had the strongest earthquake in the lower 48 in the last 50 years, the 7.3 magnitude Mount Borah quake of 1983. Fortunately, it was way out in the middle of nowhere so damage was confined to two tiny little towns, but if it had struck anywhere near larger population centers it would have been a very serious disaster. It is, however, part of a larger Intermountain seismic belt which runs from Montana through Idaho, Utah and Nevada. The Wasatch Front in Salt Lake City is very similar to the geologic situation at Mount Borah. Also, yes, all the rugged survivalists love northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle where they can hate all parts of the government not associated with wildfire suppression. ---
**Author:** ![Anticounterrevolutionary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Anticounterrevolutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anticounterrevolutionary)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/37 "2011-04-29T09:32:24Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Also, yes, all the rugged survivalists love northwest Montana and the Idaho panhandle where they can hate all parts of the government not associated with wildfire suppression. Can’t you just call a cab to take back to wherever you came from? ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/38 "2011-04-29T09:59:53Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Several good additions. But note that I was trying to list natural disasters that are particularly likely in a given state. Not just possible in a given state. I mean, Alabama is currently experiencing some of the worst tornadoes in the history of the country, but “tornado” aren’t on the list for Alabama because tornadoes are an aberration there. From just north of AR, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that tornado’s are particularly likely in AR. For other values of likely, so are earthquakes. Ice storms are annual as well as floods and baseball size hail. My vote is MN. The blizzards there don’t have nearly as much snow as upstate NY, and they are well equipped to handle them. Tornados are not nearly as frequent as they are in OK, TX, KS, MO and AR. Chicago is pretty disaster free as well. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/39 "2011-04-29T12:17:37Z")
FEMA tracks Presidential disaster declarations in the United States. They have produced this map which shows the number of declarations by county for the time period December 1964 to January 2010: [http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/historical.pdf](http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/historical.pdf) From this it looks to me like parts of the Central Plains qualify. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086/40 "2011-04-29T12:21:38Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > [ul][li]VT, NH - Avalanche, blizzard[/li][/ul] Eh, I’d cross avalanche off the list. The type of mountains we have in VT (and NH) aren’t really avalanch prone. I can’t recall of ever hearing about a REAL avalanche the whole time I’ve been living here… But I’ll tack on flooding, especially in the part of VT I live in (Champlain Valley.) FULL of small mountain streams, wich flow into mountain rivers, which flow into small ponds and lakes, which then all flow into Lake Champlain. Right now there is severe flooding in several areas around the lake. A small town in eastern NY on the other side of the lake is almost completly cut off from other towns…only a couple back roads haven’t been washed out. The town I grew up in had their mountain river flood in the late 90’s. It washed out a couple bridges, which cut it off from a couple nearby small towns. To get from one of those two towns to my town woul take an extra 30-40 minutes to go all the way around. At least in happened in the summer so that they didn’t have to worry about bussing kids to school. They had a temp. bridge in place before the fall. But a few years later, early 2000’s, the town had another flood. This time, instead of the flood coming from “underneath” from a flooding river, it came from “above.” A massive storm dumped someting like 4 inches in less than an hour. It all washed down the side of the mountain my town is nestled against. Huge boulders crashed into homes, (and the elementary school at the top of a hill right near the mountain,) parts of town with a couple feet of standing water, more washed out roads, etc… Edit: I’ll add, though, that even with floods, blizards, and ice storms, I think this part of the NE is generally prety safe from natural disasters. Not very much loss of life from these, mostly just property damage and inconvience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-of-the-u-s-is-least-prone-to-natural-disasters/580086.md?page=3)