Safest Places from Natural Disasters

Hurricane Sandy is a reminder that despite our best efforts to protect ourselves, nature can still bring terrible devastation. 

Some regions are known to be prone to hurricanes, and some are more likely to have earthquakes or tornados.  Which places have the best tradeoff between the various hazards, and can be known as the safest places for natural disasters?

After the epidemic of tornados in 2011, the New York Times asked us this question, and we created a ranking of all 379 U.S. metro areas, based on the risks of tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, hail, and other weather events such as extreme rain, snow, heat and cold.

Here’s the link to the story in the New York Times, with a handsome info graphic of the risk throughout the United States.  Scroll down for specific maps of risk for tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

Here are the top ten metro areas with the lowest risk:

1.       Corvallis, OR

2.       Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA

3.       Bellingham, WA

4.       Wenatchee, WA

5.       Grand Junction, CO

6.       Spokane, WA

7.       Salem, OR

8.       Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA

9.       Yakima, WA

10.   Olympia, WA

And here are the places most at risk from natural disasters:

1.       Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX

2.       Jonesboro, AR

3.       Corpus Christi, TX

4.       Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX

5.       Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX

6.       Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

7.       Austin-Round Rock, TX

8.       Birmingham-Hoover, AL

9.       Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

10.   Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, FL