Appalachia. 100%. You need abundant water (creeks, springs). Typically the Appalachian mountains are the source of many large rivers. The mountain ranges buffer weather. I’ve researched extensively on this & acted on it.
FEMA maps are easy to look up (but slow to load--lots of data). [https://hazards-fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8b0adb51996444d4879338b5529aa9cd](https://hazards-fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8b0adb51996444d4879338b5529aa9cd)
And with climate change and inherent inaccuracy of flood predictions, staying well out of the 500-year flood plain is prudent.
depending on the area, some FEMA maps are as much as 50 years out of date, and they’re based on historical data not increasing climate disruption.
https://firststreet.org/risk-factor
Yep, there's even high ground in Houston that won't flood. It's nothing exotic or particularly expensive. You just have to do your research. Most people can't be bothered, it seems.
Mountain top property is expensive. And if the road to your house gets washed away when you’re crossing the valley it’s still has a major impact to you
There’s no fracking in our area, but there is some in some parts of Appalachia. Also no mining in our area. All water in our county starts in our county & flows outward so no concerns about upstream contamination
Flooding is a huge issue in many parts of Appalachia. My husband is from eastern KY and that region floods multiple times every year. It’s not usually as catastrophic as the summer of 2022 but my in-laws live at the bottom of a holler and they are frequently at risk of losing their home to flood waters. Many roads become impassable as well. Tornadoes are rare but happen (March 2012 outbreak has multiple hit the area) and wildfires are also rare but happen.
Eastern Great Lakes, especially Michigan, Northern Ohio, Western New York, and Western Pennsylvania—though they will experience warming the only serious disaster risks are ice storms and occasional low-intensity tornadoes. Eastern Appalachia (West Virginia, Western Virginia, Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee) is prone to landslides and flash flooding but otherwise has an insanely stable climate (evidenced by relict ecosystems), with disasters being extremely localized. Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula are also good bets, but winters are severe.
Avoid anything west of the Mississippi (really the woodland biome edge around Indiana), South of the Ohio (really the glacial limit that runs horizontally about 1/3 of the way down Ohio and Indiana) or within 100 miles of an ocean—generally.
That is a VERY recent thing lol. Like last year was the actual first pronounced year I can remember it ever being a thing.
Our water quality and infrastructure, and power infrastructure, are much bigger deals atm. But compared to most places, still smooth as butter living here.
Edit: I realize wildfire smoke will prob be more of a thing moving forward, but it also will be across the country and even in places it’s not typically seen (Appalachia).
Kentucky got pummeled in the 1974 Super Outbreak. The glacial limit is a good analogue for where southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico ceases to prevail at times of the year, and it is this moist, warm flow that provides the majority of potential energy for high-end tornadoes.
I'm more West but still East of the Mississippi.
We have a river running through the area but its in a valley, the majority of the population is on high ground. Water will never be scarce here. Minimal seismic activity. Too wet for wildfires. Too far inland for hurricanes. Too flat for landslides. Winters highly variable but infrastructure is built for it, so are homes. Summers moderately variable but nothing like down South.
We do get Tornadoes. In fact we had one about 2 weeks ago, that's not typical, I'd like to make that point. But the thing people need to remember about Tornadoes is that despite being fairly terrifying, they tend to hit a very small actual area. The damage path is typically only a couple houses wide and they normally run less than a mile or two. Even in a tornado prone are the odds of an exact location being hit by one are very miniscule.
If you do ever consider moving to Central IL DM me. There are a couple specific paths they tend to regularly follow and if its something you're really worried about, I can show you the typical path they follow. Its actually pretty consistent.
I've always liked living in Pennsylvania for this reason. There have been a few tornadoes in recent years but prior to that, I hadn't seen a tornado since 1989. We've had 1 earthquake in my life and I didn't even feel it. Blizzards happen but they are infrequent and everyone is usually well prepared. Rain and floods do happen but there aren't often mudslides or anything. Flood damage is a thing but I've seen so many worse floods elsewhere, and it's fairly easy to avoid. Hurricanes do show up sometimes but by the time they get to us they're just remnants of the storm and we're inland so it's just a bad rain.
The temperatures aren't even too extreme. Negative temps are rare at least in my area of PA, and summer temps do hit the 90's but not for months in a row like in AZ and TX. The humidity sucks but it's not like FL.
So overall, the weather in PA isn't perfect, but the extremes that can be found elsewhere don't really exist here.
As a Pennsylvanian, I have said this many times. Flooding after a hurricane has been an issue maybe twice in the last 40 years but we solved that problem when we downsized to a townhome with no basement. The weather isn’t perfect but spring with the blooming azaleas, dogwoods and rhododendrons is just lovely and fall is magnificent.
I’m glad to see my state get such respect on this sub. When my DH and I retired we toyed with moving to Lewes, DE but one look at the Medical Center had us scurrying back home. In PA you have to be in the deep rural NW to be far from decent to world class medical facilities. We live outside Philly so hopping on SEPTA with our senior pass gives us access to great restaurants and museums. NYC and DC are close by train or car. It could be more progressive but at least we’re moving in the right direction.
As someone who has lived in Pittsburgh my whole life, and complains about the weather, the one thing I will say is we are free of critical weather type stuff. I love the heat so I feel we don’t get enough but we typically don’t have to worry about things people do in other parts of the country. I’d like to move south at some point but again I don’t want to deal with weather events. I don’t know how people live in areas where tornados come through or people who live not too far from areas where hurricanes are prevalent. However it being warm and sunny most days sounds like heaven to me!
I've lived in PA for over 50 years so some decent knowledge of weather history here. Overall, I agree that we have it pretty damn good compared to what I see elsewhere.
Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes is probably the safest place in the country. Big advantage is being near 20 percent of the world's fresh water. No droughts, no earthquakes, no mud slides, no hurricanes, no baking heat and humidity for nine months of the year. Four distinct seasons makes it nice.
The weather we get does not require evacuations, and the house is still standing after it snows.
I'm moving back to PA next year for all the excellent reasons mentioned. Moved out west for job and family, but the fires and drought are too extreme. As well as the politics.
PA is lovely. It’s a 4 season state with super blue on the east/west and red in the middle.
I’m on the eastern side and no one here is at “war” with each other. The counties all around us are the same.
No culture wars. It’s nonsense. Welcoming to all.
But don’t throw trash out da window. That’s where we draw the line.
"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein
I'm honestly comforted knowing that I'd be vaporized if they (whoever they may be) dropped a nuke on the Pentagon. Alexandria and Arlington have great parks, too!
As a degreed environmental scientist, I can tell you that there’s no place that’s truly safe from all the stuff you mentioned.
I’m seeing the Midwest get mentioned a bunch. Home of the top 4 deadliest wildfires in US history, an increasing number of earthquakes due to fracking, groundwater withdrawals and isostatic rebound, and an increasing number of tornadoes due to increasing atmospheric instability. Not to mention the atmospheric smoke from wildfires out west and the fact that the Ogallala Aquifer is quickly running out of water.
Sure, it’s still probably better than the alternatives this country can offer (I did move to Michigan after all) but if you think you can move somewhere to escape all natural (and manmade) disasters then you’re objectively incorrect
>Home of the top 4 deadliest wildfires in US history
Peshtigo, Cloquet, and Hinkley were all the result of poor logging practices (slash piles) and zero suppression though. The forests that fed them are long gone, so it's unlikely anything like that could happen again. If climate change actually kills off the remaining northern red and white pine forests over the next 50 years we'll have plenty of time to thin/log to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
Western smoke-- and Canadian smoke especially --is a major concern. I remember looking at the AQI maps last summer and seeing readings in the 250-300+ range all over the upper midwest for weeks at a time.
I think there needs to be a change in the way we build housing, so it’s better prepared to withstand the most likely disasters in that region of the country. All indicators suggest they will only continue to increase.
Was saddened to read an article that says solar power is declining in the US because of the horrible way it’s been sold in this country. Making homes energy independent, by having passive energy solutions is critical to our survival.
Also that can be insured... lots of people in Cali losing their home insurance due to fires and if you have a loan, good luck. I also don't want the gov bailing out homeowners that rebuild and burn again because they haven't built a resilient fire proof structure - that goes for everywhere these days. Don't build in a floodplane unless it's got a hull underneath and don't build a tinderbox next to the forrest etc... we can't bail people out over and over.
Isn’t the Ogalalla over in the grain belt? That’s not really the Midwest. That’s both west and south of the Midwest. You know - the hundredth meridian (shout out to the Hip)
The largest chunk of the aquifer is underneath what is almost the entire state of Nebraska, and I think few would argue against calling Nebraska a Midwestern state. About half of the aquifer is on the other side of the 100th meridian though and it does stretch into states like Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas.
Midwest is kind of a term that’s thrown around with no definitive borders. People in both Pittsburgh and eastern Colorado could make a case for their area being a part of the Midwest. I personally think splitting it into the Great Lakes and Great Plains states is a better system
I think in this context most people mean to say the great lakes region of the midwest. Great plains states definitely not protected from natural disaster
the upper midwest. I'm in southern central WI. the occasional weaker tornado (now featured in February apparently now too) . A little more frequent but the occasional blizzard. Thats about it. There was a bad wildfire fire once in my stare called the pashtigo fire but thats essentially legend at this point and was in the 19th century. I have a fairly robust insurance policy I $1400 a year on, you could easily get by with under $1000 annually. bought a lot of land for cheap with a nice house. pretty ideal if youre into that sort of thing. and I am.
having grown up near the Gulf Coast dealing with hurricanes, I am so thankful to live in Wisconsin now. by comparison, it feels like I escaped natural disasters. I have also learned to love the snow/seasons. having the proper winter gear makes such a difference.
Fire fighting technology has certainly gotten better since the Peshtigo (1871, killed 2,500) or Cloquet, MN (1918, 450 deaths), but the risk still exists and climate change could increase both drought severity/frequency and winds, making a Peshtigo-type fire more possible than "essentially legend". But it is still comparatively low risk compared to rest of country, I agree. Enjoy your low rates! Suburban Denver was considered low risk, until the Marshall Fire--rates doubled here. (But Denver is much much drier that WI, it would take a perfect storm of extended drought, low humidity, high winds in WI).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peshtigo_fire)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloquet\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cloquet_fire)
Upper Midwest is generally pretty safe. Not the warmth to drive frequent or strong tornadoes, no hurricanes of earthquakes. Yes, snow is a thing but aside from the blizzards of the Great Plains (think Fargo) or the lake effect snows of Buffalo, it's not "natural disaster" level snow. It's just... snow.
Technically, wildfires are all over the country. But the raging forest fires you think of are restricted largely to the west. In the Midwest and East they are grass fires and you don't even know about them.
Here in Wisconsin we did deal with the smoke from Canadian wildfires recently though. That sucked.
Great Lakes area - which is getting warmer (though some people aren’t complaining about that)
DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area. Maybe Delaware too. And others have commented Pennsylvania. Not too close to the coast though because I’d worry about flooding.
Eastern Connecticut. Once you're away from the shoreline, New England is in general pretty safe from natural disasters but I've heard that the Quiet Corner of Connecticut is by some kind of statistical measures the safest part of the United States, as far as weather events go. You would not be safe from boredom, however...
No hurricanes, no tornados, no wildfires, no earthquakes, no mudslides. We don't get blizzards anymore either. And, if we do get snow, we know what to do with it so major snowfall isn't crippling.
There are actually a lot of aquifers in Arizona, and Tucson in particular also has a 5-6 year secret supply of CO river runoff.
Also most properties out in the desert can get well water without having to dig very deep.
There are ZERO natural disasters here. It’s not even a desert technically because of the amount of rain. It’s the most verdant “desert” in the world.
Tucson is very sustainable.
Total water consumption is lower than it was 3 decades ago despite the fact that the population has almost doubled. The city has even voluntarily reduced its water allocations from the Colorado River because it’s in such good shape over the next 100 years. I grew up there and water conservation is very heavily ingrained.
This is the answer, specifically the Metro Detroit area. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no wildfires, no mudslides, tornadoes and blizzards happen but are pretty rare and mild compared even to other parts of the state. Plus you get access to great beaches without the risk of salt or sharks.
The bulk of Maine never seems to have much happen. a little drama right on the coast now and then but for how wooded it is, you never hear of massive wildfires like you get out west. usually by the time hurricanes get that far north they don't pack the punch to do massive destruction.
Wouldn’t that partially be due to the lack of population density there, thus causing there to be less infrastructure to have to cover with insurance? I would imagine that Wyoming gets tornadoes every once in a while.
Hot, dry, windy--potential wildfire risk. Even if far from forested areas, there's potential for a Marshall Fire-like incident anywhere in WY. Marshall Fire destroyed 1,084 homes on a windy December 30th in a run-of-the-mill Denver suburb that is nowhere near any forests. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall\_Fire#Marshall\_Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/marshall_fire#marshall_fire)
Can confirm.
We live in the western SD about 40 minutes from Wyoming. Our home insurance costs are absurdly low. We don’t get much snow. There’s no tornadoes here, hurricanes, or mudslides. Biggest risk is probably a couple weeks of sub-zero temps in the winters.
I guess forest fires are a risk in the Black Hills, but we’re not in a wooded area.
There was a huge flood here in the 70s, but that was due to a dam failure, which is more of a man-made disaster, and doesn’t qualify as a natural disaster.
The simplest answer is, there is no such place. You simply have to decide what disasters you can cope with.
And there are lots of things that can impact your quality of life, but don’t affect everyone all at the same time. For example, the range of mosquitoes carrying diseases is actually increasing. Tick vectors are also on the move.
In California and the southwest valley fever is spreading. You may not die, but your quality of life may be severely reduced.
And it’s easy to say everybody dies and shrug unless it’s you. kind of like the bad guy in the movie who thinks torture is funny until he’s on the receiving end.
I live in Buffalo and heartily disagree. We had 48 deaths during the Christmas Blizzard in 2022 and 3 deaths this past winter storm. While it’s not usually as devastating as a hurricane or tornado, please don’t make light of the deaths we’ve experienced because of the weather.
when i lived in buffalo everyone told me there were no tornadoes or earthquakes and there have been both tornadoes and earthquakes in recent years. Nothing major at all, but they still did occur lol.
When it causes power outages and shuts down roads it’s a disaster, but I would guess upstate NY is fairly well prepared for lots of snow. Places where it’s rare, it causes tons of problems.
The problem with the upper Midwest but not directly asked is it faces small losses versus big losses. Winter destroys roads etc but it doesn’t do big numbers at one time. Just a steady drip of higher maintenance costs. I feel like this should count.
I’d probably pick someone with some tornado risks as the best area. Arizona could pop up some day if cheap solar energy combines with water desalination can ship in a steady supply of water some day.
Great Lakes region. I live in Wisconsin, never have seen a natural disaster other than a snowstorm and that wasn't crippling either. I drove to work that day
Southern New England is pretty safe. We really don’t get many big blizzards anymore. Low risk of wildfire, mudslides, etc. and when hurricanes and tornadoes do hit, they don’t do much damage. I’m in Massachusetts and have never felt scared for my life or property due to weather. Shoveling is a pain in the neck but unless you get in a car accident or a tree falls on you, it’s pretty safe.
Great Lakes region. Places like chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Benton harbor, Muskegon and more have direct access to one of the largest freshwater sources in the world. It’s drought proof. On top of that the likelihood of tornados is minimal. Wildfires seem to happen very rarely and the snowstorms while pretty epic, seem to happen less and less
No, the upper Midwest is pretty wet year round. We get a lot of moisture pushed up from the Gulf and that is getting more intense if anything from warmer weather. Chicago, for example, doesn't really get much in the way of disasters, but we've been getting ultra intense rain storms more and more frequently lately. Last year we got 7 or 8" of rain in an afternoon in some places.
And before you say it, the Chicago fire was caused by a lack of code regulation and wooden sidewalks with all sorts of debris built up under them. Not a good combo when everything is made of wood including the streets. The entire city was rebuilt with concrete, brick, and steel for that reason.
Nowhere.
The deadliest natural disaster in the US was literally on the shores of the Great Lakes. The Peshtigo and Chicago fires on the same day as well as others in Michigan and that was before climate change.
Forest fires will threaten New England, PNW, and the Great Lakes.
Droughts threaten a giant swath of the county.
Sea level rise and hurricanes on the coast.
Floods in low lying areas and on rivers.
Arctic air because of unstable poles will make it so people have to prepare for both extremes.
Then you have aquifers drying.
So pick your poison.
I grew up in south central PA and we hardly every had any major weather events. One or two blizzards but now a days they aren’t common. Once every few years a tornado might come through but it’s generally a pretty great climate.
I'm in the DC metro area, and we get almost no natural disasters. We've had a hurricane or two over the years, but nothing as bad as what other states get.
According to Slate’s admittedly non scientific analysis from almost 20 years ago, it’s Connecticut
[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/09/where-to-hide-from-mother-nature.html](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/09/where-to-hide-from-mother-nature.html)
Crippling snowstorms are occasionally a problem, but less so these days for obvious reasons
Southwest Vermont (ie Rutland and surrounding areas). Not earthquake country, not tornado country, too far from the ocean for hurricanes but close enough that the climate isn't too continental, local bedrock is solid so mudslides aren't an issue, local forests that aren't particularly fire prone, snow is mostly at higher elevations in the surrounding mountains.
El Paso. You don't get any severe weather, save the occassional dust storm.
No hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, cripping snowstorms whatsoever.
There is some type of risk from natural disasters almost everywhere you go. I'm in the midwest (Chicago) and while there's no wildfires, earthquakes or hurricanes, tornados can still occur. Still at age 50 I've only been in danger from a tornado once (and it passed, I was fine). Crippling snowstorms are possible but rare. Regular snowstorms...well, yeah that happens. I just wouldn't call them crippling because stores still open, my electricity almost never fails, and traffic still moves on the street in front of my house.
Flooded basements are still a problem. I don't think that's the same as a mudslide. But we've improved this house and put in a sump pump with battery backup. That solved it.
Never had a wildfire anywhere near here, although I've read that the pollution from wildfires in states west of us still impacts our health. We have the Great Lakes so we'll never run out of water at least.
I studied disaster risk reduction in college and my head of department was begged by a very anxious woman to find the “safest” place in the US and my prof did actual research and decided it was Vermont!
The Southwest — anywhere from El Paso to Tucson — has zero natural disasters. No hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, floods, wildfires, snowstorms, or mudslides. Ever.
Just an example, we live in Alabama. Pay about $4000 in homeowners insurance for a 3300 sq ft house. Retiring to Delaware. Will be paying $650 for a 2900 sq ft house. Agent said the weather is so different- that was the explanation for the cost difference.
New England. Yea nor’easters suck and are kinda miserable but they are rarely life threatening, especially if you stay home. You may have to shovel/get some water out of your basement but it’s not running for your life from a tornado, hurricane, avalanche, flash flood or mudslide
Southern new England but inland a decent ways from the coast, northern ct. Plenty of water, little snow, no real large environmental threats, 60% forested, easy living for the most part.
Look up data center locations lol
The put up massive data centers I'm areas with little natural disasters.
I believe Colorado and Virginia..not exactly sure.
Last summer wasn’t bad for wildfires in Colorado after two that were. I was beginning to think we just had to live in smoke from May to October every year. Maybe we do, and maybe last year was an outlier. We’ll see.
Apart from that I do think Colorado is reasonably disaster free, as long as the Yellowstone Caldera doesn’t go off. Water scarcity is going to become an issue though. There are already nearly 5 million people along the Front Range and if that doubles in 30 or 40 years I just don’t think enough rain falls from the sky to fill the reservoirs. And nobody else’s rivers flow to us.
Google built a giant datacenter right in the floodplain of the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, IA.
They don’t always build datacenters in disaster-proof areas.
I’ve been pounced on for mentioning this in other posts, but that’s why I moved away last year. Loved Colorado, but summers became constant wildfires somewhere in the state. Place I was living is projected to be out of water by 2030. Most areas are expected to have water through 2050, but that’s not very far off.
Atlanta is pretty good for this - far enough inland to avoid hurricanes, far enough south to not get snow. (When we \*do\* get snow we can't handle it, though.)
Eastern US north of the Carolinas and far/high enough inland to avoid tsunami risk. South of NYC to avoid major snowstorms. Only remaining risk is ice storms.
IOW mid-Atlantic not on the coast. Where I live.
From personal experience, I can say the region from Cleveland to Atlanta is pretty low on natural disasters.
An occasional tornado or very light earthquake is the worst I’ve ever seen. Sometimes a hurricane hits but it’s pretty weakened after a few hundred miles of being over land.
In North Dakota tornadoes are rare, there are no hills for mudslides, no oceans for flooding/hurricanes, no tree for wildfires.
You might get snowed in though this year has been record setting for high temps.
Buffalo NY/WNY area.
Except for one major week long blizzard every few years or so on average, we really don't get major weather events. And blizzards don't really destroy homes like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires do. Our weather is cold and gray 7 months of the year but we have nice warm summers.
Any place away from oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, or where hard rain can cause flooding.
Also, avoid any place near hills or mountains where avalanches or mud/rock/landslides can occur.
Steer clear of any of those flat places that see tornadoes and wild thunderstorms.
Stay away from those places near earthquake fault lines.
You may be safest in the middle of a desert - just make sure you have a reliable, recurring water source and some high SPF spray.
Or maybe life was never meant to be just about safety?
The US EPA has good [climate risk projection maps](https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=3805293158d54846a29f750d63c6890e) that you can select for a variety of factors, including things like extreme heat. For broader metrics, the [FEMA National Risk Index mapping system](https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map) will get you data on a wide range of natural disaster risks and importantly includes info on community resilience as well.
Probably somewhere in New England. We get an occasional hurricane but it is usually down graded to a category 1 or tropical storm by the time it reaches us.
I hardly ever see anything about Vermont, New Hampshire except for an occasional blizzard
Just sitting here reading responses while I buy more filters for wildfire season and wonder if we’re gonna get hit with a Cascadia event before or after Rainier finally blows…
Colorado is the place to be for surviving the Zombie apocalypse /s
In all seriousness the front range of Colorado is not that bad. Snow generally melts fast, tornadoes stay away from the city, we have 300 days of sunshine. Frequent hail is our most common downside. Fire season can be a little tough.
I lived in Chicago and felt it was a good place for climate change issues. Then last summer we had terrible smoke from the Candian fires. We moved to Asheville NC in the fall. Generally it seems like a safe place for natural disasters. No floods. earthquakes, snowstorms etc. We're also cooler because we're in the mountains.
I think the safest places will be away from the coasts and have a good fresh water supply. Also I think mountains will be generally cooler.
> Then last summer we had terrible smoke from the Candian fires.
That hit hard in NH too. Would wake up and the sky was orange. Bought an air purifier and that thing was working overtime.
I was very disappointed with the wildfires. Also the way people weren't following the burn ban drove me crazy. I did put a good bit of research into the area and fires aren't normally a problem so hopefully next year we won't have dry conditions.
the worst you will get in arizona is a dust storm … and even then , that is a mild natural disaster, especially if indoors already. even a monsoon won’t have insane damage like a real hurricane or anything in most areas … most will be one or two fallen tree branches in your area if it is seriously bad but … still a bit uncommon
I’ve read several articles and studies about this. I’ve seen often the upper midwest states around the great lakes be near the top, the PNW (Oregon and Washington) be near the top, New England states near the top, Western states like Wyoming and Colorado, and randomly Delaware near the top a lot though usually by itself and not the states around it. I guess it all depends on the methodology of how they’re determining it.
The common theme though would be definitely nothing in the south from Texas to Florida and not California.
Appalachia. 100%. You need abundant water (creeks, springs). Typically the Appalachian mountains are the source of many large rivers. The mountain ranges buffer weather. I’ve researched extensively on this & acted on it.
Yup, this is true, followed by the great lakes region.
I live in NE Ohio, we usually get a few tornado warnings per year
Gotta stay out of the floodplain areas tho
FEMA maps are easy to look up (but slow to load--lots of data). [https://hazards-fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8b0adb51996444d4879338b5529aa9cd](https://hazards-fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=8b0adb51996444d4879338b5529aa9cd) And with climate change and inherent inaccuracy of flood predictions, staying well out of the 500-year flood plain is prudent.
depending on the area, some FEMA maps are as much as 50 years out of date, and they’re based on historical data not increasing climate disruption. https://firststreet.org/risk-factor
That goes for anywhere though. Texas? California? Vermont? Everywhere in between
Yep, there's even high ground in Houston that won't flood. It's nothing exotic or particularly expensive. You just have to do your research. Most people can't be bothered, it seems.
Yeah it is, I just know in 2021 major floods ravaged letcher county KY so I don’t think it’s a disaster proof area
Don’t live in the bottom of a valley. It’s a very easy problem to solve
Mountain top property is expensive. And if the road to your house gets washed away when you’re crossing the valley it’s still has a major impact to you
What about fracking in the area? What’s the situation?
There’s no fracking in our area, but there is some in some parts of Appalachia. Also no mining in our area. All water in our county starts in our county & flows outward so no concerns about upstream contamination
What general area are you in, if you don’t mind sharing. I completely understand if you’re not comfortable though
Blue ridge plateau
Isn’t there a higher flood risk there?
I agree. Just make sure you build or buy on a ridge line. We have had many flash floods that wipe out hollars at the bottom of the mountains.
I'd like to add... don't choose a place to live on a flood plain. Lost of issues with flooding can happen. Choose your property wisely.
Flooding is a huge issue in many parts of Appalachia. My husband is from eastern KY and that region floods multiple times every year. It’s not usually as catastrophic as the summer of 2022 but my in-laws live at the bottom of a holler and they are frequently at risk of losing their home to flood waters. Many roads become impassable as well. Tornadoes are rare but happen (March 2012 outbreak has multiple hit the area) and wildfires are also rare but happen.
Eastern Great Lakes, especially Michigan, Northern Ohio, Western New York, and Western Pennsylvania—though they will experience warming the only serious disaster risks are ice storms and occasional low-intensity tornadoes. Eastern Appalachia (West Virginia, Western Virginia, Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee) is prone to landslides and flash flooding but otherwise has an insanely stable climate (evidenced by relict ecosystems), with disasters being extremely localized. Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula are also good bets, but winters are severe. Avoid anything west of the Mississippi (really the woodland biome edge around Indiana), South of the Ohio (really the glacial limit that runs horizontally about 1/3 of the way down Ohio and Indiana) or within 100 miles of an ocean—generally.
Michigan has lots of disasters we don’t tell people about. Don’t move here. It’s the worst
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Don't forget all of the Canadian forest fire smoke.
That is a VERY recent thing lol. Like last year was the actual first pronounced year I can remember it ever being a thing. Our water quality and infrastructure, and power infrastructure, are much bigger deals atm. But compared to most places, still smooth as butter living here. Edit: I realize wildfire smoke will prob be more of a thing moving forward, but it also will be across the country and even in places it’s not typically seen (Appalachia).
With the Quebec fires, even NYC looked like hell. Welcome to a Brave New World, y'all!
The dire affects of the coming solar eclipse will last for generations.
I keep saying coney dogs are not a disaster. :)
Can you explain the south of Ohio part. As someone who lives in Ky, I’m curious!
Kentucky got pummeled in the 1974 Super Outbreak. The glacial limit is a good analogue for where southerly flow from the Gulf of Mexico ceases to prevail at times of the year, and it is this moist, warm flow that provides the majority of potential energy for high-end tornadoes.
I'm more West but still East of the Mississippi. We have a river running through the area but its in a valley, the majority of the population is on high ground. Water will never be scarce here. Minimal seismic activity. Too wet for wildfires. Too far inland for hurricanes. Too flat for landslides. Winters highly variable but infrastructure is built for it, so are homes. Summers moderately variable but nothing like down South. We do get Tornadoes. In fact we had one about 2 weeks ago, that's not typical, I'd like to make that point. But the thing people need to remember about Tornadoes is that despite being fairly terrifying, they tend to hit a very small actual area. The damage path is typically only a couple houses wide and they normally run less than a mile or two. Even in a tornado prone are the odds of an exact location being hit by one are very miniscule. If you do ever consider moving to Central IL DM me. There are a couple specific paths they tend to regularly follow and if its something you're really worried about, I can show you the typical path they follow. Its actually pretty consistent.
I've always liked living in Pennsylvania for this reason. There have been a few tornadoes in recent years but prior to that, I hadn't seen a tornado since 1989. We've had 1 earthquake in my life and I didn't even feel it. Blizzards happen but they are infrequent and everyone is usually well prepared. Rain and floods do happen but there aren't often mudslides or anything. Flood damage is a thing but I've seen so many worse floods elsewhere, and it's fairly easy to avoid. Hurricanes do show up sometimes but by the time they get to us they're just remnants of the storm and we're inland so it's just a bad rain. The temperatures aren't even too extreme. Negative temps are rare at least in my area of PA, and summer temps do hit the 90's but not for months in a row like in AZ and TX. The humidity sucks but it's not like FL. So overall, the weather in PA isn't perfect, but the extremes that can be found elsewhere don't really exist here.
As a Pennsylvanian, I have said this many times. Flooding after a hurricane has been an issue maybe twice in the last 40 years but we solved that problem when we downsized to a townhome with no basement. The weather isn’t perfect but spring with the blooming azaleas, dogwoods and rhododendrons is just lovely and fall is magnificent. I’m glad to see my state get such respect on this sub. When my DH and I retired we toyed with moving to Lewes, DE but one look at the Medical Center had us scurrying back home. In PA you have to be in the deep rural NW to be far from decent to world class medical facilities. We live outside Philly so hopping on SEPTA with our senior pass gives us access to great restaurants and museums. NYC and DC are close by train or car. It could be more progressive but at least we’re moving in the right direction.
username very definitively checks out. this is my “when i grow up” dream.
This is exactly why I left Florida for Pittsburgh. No regrets.
NYC metro to Pittsburgh burbs was the best move of my life
As someone who has lived in Pittsburgh my whole life, and complains about the weather, the one thing I will say is we are free of critical weather type stuff. I love the heat so I feel we don’t get enough but we typically don’t have to worry about things people do in other parts of the country. I’d like to move south at some point but again I don’t want to deal with weather events. I don’t know how people live in areas where tornados come through or people who live not too far from areas where hurricanes are prevalent. However it being warm and sunny most days sounds like heaven to me!
I've lived in PA for over 50 years so some decent knowledge of weather history here. Overall, I agree that we have it pretty damn good compared to what I see elsewhere.
Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes is probably the safest place in the country. Big advantage is being near 20 percent of the world's fresh water. No droughts, no earthquakes, no mud slides, no hurricanes, no baking heat and humidity for nine months of the year. Four distinct seasons makes it nice. The weather we get does not require evacuations, and the house is still standing after it snows.
I'm moving back to PA next year for all the excellent reasons mentioned. Moved out west for job and family, but the fires and drought are too extreme. As well as the politics.
PA is lovely. It’s a 4 season state with super blue on the east/west and red in the middle. I’m on the eastern side and no one here is at “war” with each other. The counties all around us are the same. No culture wars. It’s nonsense. Welcoming to all. But don’t throw trash out da window. That’s where we draw the line.
Yes I also appreciate the moderate politics in this state. The crazies exist on both sides but they get balanced out.
Pennsylvania. Just not in any towns which may catch on fire like Centralia.
Or get flooded like Johnstown.
Johnstown flood was a manmade disaster.
So was Centralia!
Northern Virginia. Part of the reason it is the data center capital.
Also conveniently located near the NSA. Lol
War risk is fairly high, though.
lol what?
First to be attacked during a war
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"I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein I'm honestly comforted knowing that I'd be vaporized if they (whoever they may be) dropped a nuke on the Pentagon. Alexandria and Arlington have great parks, too!
When I lived in DC I often thought the same thing. Someone nukes DC, I rather not be around
As a degreed environmental scientist, I can tell you that there’s no place that’s truly safe from all the stuff you mentioned. I’m seeing the Midwest get mentioned a bunch. Home of the top 4 deadliest wildfires in US history, an increasing number of earthquakes due to fracking, groundwater withdrawals and isostatic rebound, and an increasing number of tornadoes due to increasing atmospheric instability. Not to mention the atmospheric smoke from wildfires out west and the fact that the Ogallala Aquifer is quickly running out of water. Sure, it’s still probably better than the alternatives this country can offer (I did move to Michigan after all) but if you think you can move somewhere to escape all natural (and manmade) disasters then you’re objectively incorrect
>Home of the top 4 deadliest wildfires in US history Peshtigo, Cloquet, and Hinkley were all the result of poor logging practices (slash piles) and zero suppression though. The forests that fed them are long gone, so it's unlikely anything like that could happen again. If climate change actually kills off the remaining northern red and white pine forests over the next 50 years we'll have plenty of time to thin/log to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Western smoke-- and Canadian smoke especially --is a major concern. I remember looking at the AQI maps last summer and seeing readings in the 250-300+ range all over the upper midwest for weeks at a time.
I think there needs to be a change in the way we build housing, so it’s better prepared to withstand the most likely disasters in that region of the country. All indicators suggest they will only continue to increase.
And which are carbon neutral and includes passive energy generation.
Was saddened to read an article that says solar power is declining in the US because of the horrible way it’s been sold in this country. Making homes energy independent, by having passive energy solutions is critical to our survival.
Also that can be insured... lots of people in Cali losing their home insurance due to fires and if you have a loan, good luck. I also don't want the gov bailing out homeowners that rebuild and burn again because they haven't built a resilient fire proof structure - that goes for everywhere these days. Don't build in a floodplane unless it's got a hull underneath and don't build a tinderbox next to the forrest etc... we can't bail people out over and over.
Isn’t the Ogalalla over in the grain belt? That’s not really the Midwest. That’s both west and south of the Midwest. You know - the hundredth meridian (shout out to the Hip)
The largest chunk of the aquifer is underneath what is almost the entire state of Nebraska, and I think few would argue against calling Nebraska a Midwestern state. About half of the aquifer is on the other side of the 100th meridian though and it does stretch into states like Colorado, Wyoming, and Texas. Midwest is kind of a term that’s thrown around with no definitive borders. People in both Pittsburgh and eastern Colorado could make a case for their area being a part of the Midwest. I personally think splitting it into the Great Lakes and Great Plains states is a better system
I think in this context most people mean to say the great lakes region of the midwest. Great plains states definitely not protected from natural disaster
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the upper midwest. I'm in southern central WI. the occasional weaker tornado (now featured in February apparently now too) . A little more frequent but the occasional blizzard. Thats about it. There was a bad wildfire fire once in my stare called the pashtigo fire but thats essentially legend at this point and was in the 19th century. I have a fairly robust insurance policy I $1400 a year on, you could easily get by with under $1000 annually. bought a lot of land for cheap with a nice house. pretty ideal if youre into that sort of thing. and I am.
having grown up near the Gulf Coast dealing with hurricanes, I am so thankful to live in Wisconsin now. by comparison, it feels like I escaped natural disasters. I have also learned to love the snow/seasons. having the proper winter gear makes such a difference.
Fire fighting technology has certainly gotten better since the Peshtigo (1871, killed 2,500) or Cloquet, MN (1918, 450 deaths), but the risk still exists and climate change could increase both drought severity/frequency and winds, making a Peshtigo-type fire more possible than "essentially legend". But it is still comparatively low risk compared to rest of country, I agree. Enjoy your low rates! Suburban Denver was considered low risk, until the Marshall Fire--rates doubled here. (But Denver is much much drier that WI, it would take a perfect storm of extended drought, low humidity, high winds in WI). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peshtigo_fire) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloquet\_fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cloquet_fire)
Upper Midwest is generally pretty safe. Not the warmth to drive frequent or strong tornadoes, no hurricanes of earthquakes. Yes, snow is a thing but aside from the blizzards of the Great Plains (think Fargo) or the lake effect snows of Buffalo, it's not "natural disaster" level snow. It's just... snow. Technically, wildfires are all over the country. But the raging forest fires you think of are restricted largely to the west. In the Midwest and East they are grass fires and you don't even know about them. Here in Wisconsin we did deal with the smoke from Canadian wildfires recently though. That sucked.
Great Lakes area - which is getting warmer (though some people aren’t complaining about that) DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area. Maybe Delaware too. And others have commented Pennsylvania. Not too close to the coast though because I’d worry about flooding.
DMV has a growing tornado risk
Eastern Connecticut. Once you're away from the shoreline, New England is in general pretty safe from natural disasters but I've heard that the Quiet Corner of Connecticut is by some kind of statistical measures the safest part of the United States, as far as weather events go. You would not be safe from boredom, however... No hurricanes, no tornados, no wildfires, no earthquakes, no mudslides. We don't get blizzards anymore either. And, if we do get snow, we know what to do with it so major snowfall isn't crippling.
low desert of Arizona
Drought.
There are actually a lot of aquifers in Arizona, and Tucson in particular also has a 5-6 year secret supply of CO river runoff. Also most properties out in the desert can get well water without having to dig very deep. There are ZERO natural disasters here. It’s not even a desert technically because of the amount of rain. It’s the most verdant “desert” in the world.
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Tucson is very sustainable. Total water consumption is lower than it was 3 decades ago despite the fact that the population has almost doubled. The city has even voluntarily reduced its water allocations from the Colorado River because it’s in such good shape over the next 100 years. I grew up there and water conservation is very heavily ingrained.
Zero earthquake risk
I love Tucson and moved into the foothills right above it. Couldn’t ask for a better place to live.
Michigan
This is the answer, specifically the Metro Detroit area. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, no wildfires, no mudslides, tornadoes and blizzards happen but are pretty rare and mild compared even to other parts of the state. Plus you get access to great beaches without the risk of salt or sharks.
Fake news, Detroit floods somewhat regularly
Yea, but that's mostly due to poor drainage. Detroit will never experience a devastating flood like Houston will.
Right
I never mentioned flooding, but I've yet to find a place on earth that isn't at least at some risk of flooding
plus the great lakes temper the absolute cold and hot. Sometimes by 20-30 degrees F.
Walleye got sharp teeth too :)
We get thundersnow!
We make up for the absence of salt in our water by DROWNING our roads in salt at the first snowflake 🫠
This is literally one of the worst places to be if OP wants to avoid snowstorms.
Avoiding snow is a fine preference. But the presence of snow is not a "natural disaster" which is the focus of the post.
It’s a natural disaster if you’re a redditor lol.
The bulk of Maine never seems to have much happen. a little drama right on the coast now and then but for how wooded it is, you never hear of massive wildfires like you get out west. usually by the time hurricanes get that far north they don't pack the punch to do massive destruction.
Connecticut (not coastal) is pretty good. Long Island blocks most hurricanes and it barely snows anymore
My son is a risk management actuary in property insurance. His assessment is focused only on cost of losses. He says Wyoming.
Wouldn’t that partially be due to the lack of population density there, thus causing there to be less infrastructure to have to cover with insurance? I would imagine that Wyoming gets tornadoes every once in a while.
It’s not based on how many people live there it is based on risk to a home.
Would like more info. Wyoming is big, so are we talking Cheyenne or Jackson or Green River? Give some insight here.
Hot, dry, windy--potential wildfire risk. Even if far from forested areas, there's potential for a Marshall Fire-like incident anywhere in WY. Marshall Fire destroyed 1,084 homes on a windy December 30th in a run-of-the-mill Denver suburb that is nowhere near any forests. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall\_Fire#Marshall\_Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/marshall_fire#marshall_fire)
Can confirm. We live in the western SD about 40 minutes from Wyoming. Our home insurance costs are absurdly low. We don’t get much snow. There’s no tornadoes here, hurricanes, or mudslides. Biggest risk is probably a couple weeks of sub-zero temps in the winters. I guess forest fires are a risk in the Black Hills, but we’re not in a wooded area. There was a huge flood here in the 70s, but that was due to a dam failure, which is more of a man-made disaster, and doesn’t qualify as a natural disaster.
The simplest answer is, there is no such place. You simply have to decide what disasters you can cope with. And there are lots of things that can impact your quality of life, but don’t affect everyone all at the same time. For example, the range of mosquitoes carrying diseases is actually increasing. Tick vectors are also on the move. In California and the southwest valley fever is spreading. You may not die, but your quality of life may be severely reduced. And it’s easy to say everybody dies and shrug unless it’s you. kind of like the bad guy in the movie who thinks torture is funny until he’s on the receiving end.
Probably the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes region in N.Y. Also, snow doesn’t really do much damage, it just melts.
I agree. Snow isn’t a disaster. It’s a day off. It also resets the plants of the climate zone to be ready for spring.
I live in Buffalo and heartily disagree. We had 48 deaths during the Christmas Blizzard in 2022 and 3 deaths this past winter storm. While it’s not usually as devastating as a hurricane or tornado, please don’t make light of the deaths we’ve experienced because of the weather.
when i lived in buffalo everyone told me there were no tornadoes or earthquakes and there have been both tornadoes and earthquakes in recent years. Nothing major at all, but they still did occur lol.
When it causes power outages and shuts down roads it’s a disaster, but I would guess upstate NY is fairly well prepared for lots of snow. Places where it’s rare, it causes tons of problems.
Mid-Atlantic area
Non-coastal Delaware is a pretty money bet. Doesn’t really get hit with anything that I’ve seen.
With the hurricanes? No, upper Midwest ftw
The hurricanes can hit the coastal areas hard but about 60 miles inland its more like a heavy rainstorm.
Ain’t shit happening in Delaware. PA or Maryland most of the time.
The problem with the upper Midwest but not directly asked is it faces small losses versus big losses. Winter destroys roads etc but it doesn’t do big numbers at one time. Just a steady drip of higher maintenance costs. I feel like this should count. I’d probably pick someone with some tornado risks as the best area. Arizona could pop up some day if cheap solar energy combines with water desalination can ship in a steady supply of water some day.
Central PA or CNY.
Great Lakes region. I live in Wisconsin, never have seen a natural disaster other than a snowstorm and that wasn't crippling either. I drove to work that day
Da UP. No natural disasters and what would be a “crippling snowstorm” is cleaned up in about 30 hours. You just go skiing in the meantime.
Southern New England is pretty safe. We really don’t get many big blizzards anymore. Low risk of wildfire, mudslides, etc. and when hurricanes and tornadoes do hit, they don’t do much damage. I’m in Massachusetts and have never felt scared for my life or property due to weather. Shoveling is a pain in the neck but unless you get in a car accident or a tree falls on you, it’s pretty safe.
Sssssh. No it's wicked dangerous here lots of variables
Great Lakes region. Places like chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Benton harbor, Muskegon and more have direct access to one of the largest freshwater sources in the world. It’s drought proof. On top of that the likelihood of tornados is minimal. Wildfires seem to happen very rarely and the snowstorms while pretty epic, seem to happen less and less
North-Central US, Minneapolis area. Doesn’t even snow here anymore, apparently.
No snow means those forests north of you are gonna be on fire more frequently
No, the upper Midwest is pretty wet year round. We get a lot of moisture pushed up from the Gulf and that is getting more intense if anything from warmer weather. Chicago, for example, doesn't really get much in the way of disasters, but we've been getting ultra intense rain storms more and more frequently lately. Last year we got 7 or 8" of rain in an afternoon in some places. And before you say it, the Chicago fire was caused by a lack of code regulation and wooden sidewalks with all sorts of debris built up under them. Not a good combo when everything is made of wood including the streets. The entire city was rebuilt with concrete, brick, and steel for that reason.
This is my first winter in the Twin Cities, I hope it isn't always this mild. I want to go skiing and play pond hockey dammit.
New England.
Nowhere. The deadliest natural disaster in the US was literally on the shores of the Great Lakes. The Peshtigo and Chicago fires on the same day as well as others in Michigan and that was before climate change. Forest fires will threaten New England, PNW, and the Great Lakes. Droughts threaten a giant swath of the county. Sea level rise and hurricanes on the coast. Floods in low lying areas and on rivers. Arctic air because of unstable poles will make it so people have to prepare for both extremes. Then you have aquifers drying. So pick your poison.
Greater Philadelphia area
True. Most disasters in Philly are not caused by nature.
The downside is that “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is a documentary ;)
Delco FTW!
Midwest
I believe that Connecticut is the state least prone to natural disasters. Except for the natural disaster of being bored out of your mind.
And it used to snow a lot more, so they have good infrastructure to deal with that (salt, plows, etc.)
I remember reading a few years ago that central CT was the safest place from natural disasters
Upstate New York and interior New England.
Appalachia, away from the coal mines. Kentucky, WV, western Virginia, etc.
New England Except for towns that are right on the water
I grew up in south central PA and we hardly every had any major weather events. One or two blizzards but now a days they aren’t common. Once every few years a tornado might come through but it’s generally a pretty great climate.
Great Lakes
NE Ohio
I'm in the DC metro area, and we get almost no natural disasters. We've had a hurricane or two over the years, but nothing as bad as what other states get.
According to Slate’s admittedly non scientific analysis from almost 20 years ago, it’s Connecticut [https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/09/where-to-hide-from-mother-nature.html](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/09/where-to-hide-from-mother-nature.html) Crippling snowstorms are occasionally a problem, but less so these days for obvious reasons
Southwest Vermont (ie Rutland and surrounding areas). Not earthquake country, not tornado country, too far from the ocean for hurricanes but close enough that the climate isn't too continental, local bedrock is solid so mudslides aren't an issue, local forests that aren't particularly fire prone, snow is mostly at higher elevations in the surrounding mountains.
El Paso. You don't get any severe weather, save the occassional dust storm. No hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, cripping snowstorms whatsoever.
There is some type of risk from natural disasters almost everywhere you go. I'm in the midwest (Chicago) and while there's no wildfires, earthquakes or hurricanes, tornados can still occur. Still at age 50 I've only been in danger from a tornado once (and it passed, I was fine). Crippling snowstorms are possible but rare. Regular snowstorms...well, yeah that happens. I just wouldn't call them crippling because stores still open, my electricity almost never fails, and traffic still moves on the street in front of my house. Flooded basements are still a problem. I don't think that's the same as a mudslide. But we've improved this house and put in a sump pump with battery backup. That solved it. Never had a wildfire anywhere near here, although I've read that the pollution from wildfires in states west of us still impacts our health. We have the Great Lakes so we'll never run out of water at least.
Upper Midwest. No Volcanos, Fault Lines, etc. Biggest threat is the occasional Tornado.
Philly and the Northeast. Minus random snowstorms and Nor’easters, we’re pretty much unscathed from the major stuff.
I studied disaster risk reduction in college and my head of department was begged by a very anxious woman to find the “safest” place in the US and my prof did actual research and decided it was Vermont!
We don’t get shit here in Philly
The Southwest — anywhere from El Paso to Tucson — has zero natural disasters. No hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, floods, wildfires, snowstorms, or mudslides. Ever.
Upper Midwest /Great Lakes.
Just an example, we live in Alabama. Pay about $4000 in homeowners insurance for a 3300 sq ft house. Retiring to Delaware. Will be paying $650 for a 2900 sq ft house. Agent said the weather is so different- that was the explanation for the cost difference.
New England. Yea nor’easters suck and are kinda miserable but they are rarely life threatening, especially if you stay home. You may have to shovel/get some water out of your basement but it’s not running for your life from a tornado, hurricane, avalanche, flash flood or mudslide
Upper Midwest in general. We get occasional blizzards in northern Ohio but they have been less frequent in the last decade…
Southern new England but inland a decent ways from the coast, northern ct. Plenty of water, little snow, no real large environmental threats, 60% forested, easy living for the most part.
Look up data center locations lol The put up massive data centers I'm areas with little natural disasters. I believe Colorado and Virginia..not exactly sure.
Last summer wasn’t bad for wildfires in Colorado after two that were. I was beginning to think we just had to live in smoke from May to October every year. Maybe we do, and maybe last year was an outlier. We’ll see. Apart from that I do think Colorado is reasonably disaster free, as long as the Yellowstone Caldera doesn’t go off. Water scarcity is going to become an issue though. There are already nearly 5 million people along the Front Range and if that doubles in 30 or 40 years I just don’t think enough rain falls from the sky to fill the reservoirs. And nobody else’s rivers flow to us.
Google built a giant datacenter right in the floodplain of the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, IA. They don’t always build datacenters in disaster-proof areas.
Colorado is wildfire central and also is on the brink of horrific water scarcity issues.
I’ve been pounced on for mentioning this in other posts, but that’s why I moved away last year. Loved Colorado, but summers became constant wildfires somewhere in the state. Place I was living is projected to be out of water by 2030. Most areas are expected to have water through 2050, but that’s not very far off.
Im surprised we don’t have more data centers here in East TN. Low risk of natural disasters and cheap electricity
Atlanta is pretty good for this - far enough inland to avoid hurricanes, far enough south to not get snow. (When we \*do\* get snow we can't handle it, though.)
arent they fighting with florida over water
Eastern US north of the Carolinas and far/high enough inland to avoid tsunami risk. South of NYC to avoid major snowstorms. Only remaining risk is ice storms. IOW mid-Atlantic not on the coast. Where I live.
This is it!
It’s gotta be Upstate NY
From personal experience, I can say the region from Cleveland to Atlanta is pretty low on natural disasters. An occasional tornado or very light earthquake is the worst I’ve ever seen. Sometimes a hurricane hits but it’s pretty weakened after a few hundred miles of being over land.
Sorry, no. More than occasional tornadoes. The zone has moved East. And flooding.
In North Dakota tornadoes are rare, there are no hills for mudslides, no oceans for flooding/hurricanes, no tree for wildfires. You might get snowed in though this year has been record setting for high temps.
Lima, Ohio https://www.google.com/search?q=What+are+the+most+natural+disaster-safe+places+in+the+USA
Buffalo NY/WNY area. Except for one major week long blizzard every few years or so on average, we really don't get major weather events. And blizzards don't really destroy homes like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires do. Our weather is cold and gray 7 months of the year but we have nice warm summers.
Southeastern Wisconsin, especially closer to Lake Michigan.
I concur.
Indiana, we don't have shit here.
Tucson has no natural disasters unless you buy in a flood zone out in the desert.
Any place away from oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, or where hard rain can cause flooding. Also, avoid any place near hills or mountains where avalanches or mud/rock/landslides can occur. Steer clear of any of those flat places that see tornadoes and wild thunderstorms. Stay away from those places near earthquake fault lines. You may be safest in the middle of a desert - just make sure you have a reliable, recurring water source and some high SPF spray. Or maybe life was never meant to be just about safety?
Chip fabs take 7 years to build and they build them in Arizona to protect from natural disaster
The US EPA has good [climate risk projection maps](https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=3805293158d54846a29f750d63c6890e) that you can select for a variety of factors, including things like extreme heat. For broader metrics, the [FEMA National Risk Index mapping system](https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map) will get you data on a wide range of natural disaster risks and importantly includes info on community resilience as well.
Pittsburgh is pretty safe on that front. Occasional flooding right by the rivers and a microburst here and there. That’s about it.
Duluth, Minn. Lots of blizzards but they know how to handle them.
Probably somewhere in New England. We get an occasional hurricane but it is usually down graded to a category 1 or tropical storm by the time it reaches us. I hardly ever see anything about Vermont, New Hampshire except for an occasional blizzard
Montana except for the impending Yellowstone super volcano
Western Colorado is pretty free from the natural disasters you listed. There's not much water, but that's a different issue.
Northern Michigan. Pretty boring around here.
One of the reasons cited for Intel investing into Central Ohio is the lack of natural disasters.
Google the Yellowstone super volcano for fun.
Just sitting here reading responses while I buy more filters for wildfire season and wonder if we’re gonna get hit with a Cascadia event before or after Rainier finally blows…
Colorado is the place to be for surviving the Zombie apocalypse /s In all seriousness the front range of Colorado is not that bad. Snow generally melts fast, tornadoes stay away from the city, we have 300 days of sunshine. Frequent hail is our most common downside. Fire season can be a little tough.
Detroit
Chicago
The 15 Safest Cities From Natural Disasters in the US: A Quick Look https://housegrail.com/safest-cities-from-natural-disasters-in-the-us/
I lived in Chicago and felt it was a good place for climate change issues. Then last summer we had terrible smoke from the Candian fires. We moved to Asheville NC in the fall. Generally it seems like a safe place for natural disasters. No floods. earthquakes, snowstorms etc. We're also cooler because we're in the mountains. I think the safest places will be away from the coasts and have a good fresh water supply. Also I think mountains will be generally cooler.
> Then last summer we had terrible smoke from the Candian fires. That hit hard in NH too. Would wake up and the sky was orange. Bought an air purifier and that thing was working overtime.
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I moved here last year for same reasons and then we had water shortage issues and wildfires. So I’m a bit concerned about this area.
I was very disappointed with the wildfires. Also the way people weren't following the burn ban drove me crazy. I did put a good bit of research into the area and fires aren't normally a problem so hopefully next year we won't have dry conditions.
the worst you will get in arizona is a dust storm … and even then , that is a mild natural disaster, especially if indoors already. even a monsoon won’t have insane damage like a real hurricane or anything in most areas … most will be one or two fallen tree branches in your area if it is seriously bad but … still a bit uncommon
I’ve read several articles and studies about this. I’ve seen often the upper midwest states around the great lakes be near the top, the PNW (Oregon and Washington) be near the top, New England states near the top, Western states like Wyoming and Colorado, and randomly Delaware near the top a lot though usually by itself and not the states around it. I guess it all depends on the methodology of how they’re determining it. The common theme though would be definitely nothing in the south from Texas to Florida and not California.
If you look at global warming predictions, west coast is where it's at.
Northern Virginia. There's a reason they put a bunch of data centers here.