Safest place to be in the USA

[Brettski]

I live in NJ.

We don't get many/any natural disasters, unless you count the politicians, but living in the NYC metro area has it problems...damn terrorists. Crime is also a factor, but it's been down recently.

Still, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, mud slides, forest fires (Yes I live near a reservation), etc, are very infrequent

 

[bvibert]

Don't really get much in the way of natural disasters around here in CT either. Though a wicked blizzard would be cool... 8)

 

[Joshua B]

Not to sound superior, but I appreciate New England living on so many levels, one of those being that the area isn't a hotspot for natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, and tornados.

 

[JimG.]

Don't get too comfy folks; last I checked, NJ, NY, CT, and alot of NE are coastal states. Most of the major cities are located on the coast. Just because it doesn't happen alot doesn't mean it won't ever.

If a cat 5 hurricane ever hit NE NJ, NYC would be toast, as bad as NO is now. Similar scenarios exist for coastal CT, MA, etc.

Mother Nature plays no favorites.

 

[salida]

Ok... yes we could have hurricanes.. but there have never been super strong hurricanes to come this far north. The water is just to cold to support over a cat 2 hurricane which would cause damage, but not of the same magnitude

 

[noski]

Don't get too comfy folks; last I checked, NJ, NY, CT, and alot of NE are coastal states. Most of the major cities are located on the coast. Just because it doesn't happen alot doesn't mean it won't ever.

The only New England state with no ocean frontage is VT. Though it has a lovely West Coast no other New England state can boast....

 

[bvibert]

Don't get too comfy folks; last I checked, NJ, NY, CT, and alot of NE are coastal states. Most of the major cities are located on the coast. Just because it doesn't happen alot doesn't mean it won't ever.

If a cat 5 hurricane ever hit NE NJ, NYC would be toast, as bad as NO is now. Similar scenarios exist for coastal CT, MA, etc.

Mother Nature plays no favorites.

Sure, no where is totally safe from natural disasters... They do tend to happen a whole lot less up here though...

 

[kickstand]

while blizzards can be devastating, I don't think they are anywhere near as devastating as a hurricane, tornado or earthquake. During and following the Blizzard of '78, things were shut down for about a week, two at the most. And that was 27 years ago, before all the high-tech stuff we have now. That truly caught us by surprise. Hurricanes can be tracked and forecast fairly accurately. Can't do that for tornadoes and earthquakes. Anyway, the cleanup from a blizzard is a week or so. Hurricane, tornado and earthquake cleanups take years.

I'll take anywhere clear of those areas. I guess that leaves New England, upstate New York and the Rockies as my choices.

 

[ctenidae]

There is a big fault/undersea volcano of teh coast of West Africa that is, supposedly, due to go off any time now (well, within the next 10,000 years, which equals "any time now" in geologic terms). If it goes as big as it could, the resulting tsunami, theoreticaly, could wipe out the entire eastern seaboard. And it would make it across the Atlantic in something like 9 hours.
I keep a pair of arm floaters in my briefcase, just in case.

 

[dmc]

I'll take anywhere clear of those areas. I guess that leaves New England, upstate New York and the Rockies as my choices.

Except in Upstate NY we get all the polution from the midwest... :angry:

 

[loafer89]

Hurricanes are a serious threat to New England, and it has been quite some time since the last major one hit our area.

Gloria hit Long Island as a category 3 on September 27th, 1985. Long Island was also seriously impacted by the great hurricane of September 21st, 1938.

The 1938 hurricane was a disaster for ALL of New England with Long Island, Costal Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts all getting hit very hard. Flooding occured far inland, and the storm killed 500+ people and destroyed 57,000 + homes.

This storm was very unusual because of the forward speed that it had when it hit New England, the speed has been estimated to be higher than 60mph. Wind gusts with this storm are estimated to have been over 200mph even though it was also rated as a category 3 storm.

Hopefully there will not be a modern day repeat of the 1938 hurricane, or it would be our own Katrina.

 

[JimG.]

Here's a wild card for anyone who really feels safe to consider:

Large asteroid or comet .

If that happens in your lifetime, KYAGB.

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

Are "Natural Disasters" caused or conditionally accelerated by atmospheric warming (thought to be created by mankind) scientists are publishing reports about? If so…is it really a natural disaster or mankind destroying the planet? And if it is mankind destroying the planet, is it considered evolution? :blink:

Could you imagine what really would have happened if this event happened in 1905 in lieu of 2005? Granted, no science forecasting or warnings, however, far less civilization in the area... what lessons may we have learned?

 

[ChileMass]

If no place in the US is completely safe, the fact that there's been only 2 major hurricanes in almost 70 years in the Northeast is a pretty good record.

In New England, we have very low crime (especially property crime), almost no tornadoes (Worcester 1953 is the only one worth mentioning), and the occasional blizzard, which as others have said, can now be tracked and anticipated effecitvely thru use of technology. Plus, blizzards are almost always fun. Earthquakes are almost never above 2-3 (note I said almost - Blue Mtn Lake, NY in 1983 was 5.7) and floods are also rare. The only thing that really worries me is when the temp goes waaaaaay below zero, and that only happens every 3-4 winters nowadays.

I'll take Masachusetts. I've been to almost every state in the US, and while I enjoy visiting many of them, Mass is the best state in the US to live in. SSsshhh! Lets keep this our little secret.....

 

[dmc]

The 1938 hurricane was a disaster for ALL of New England with Long Island, Costal Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts all getting hit very hard. Flooding occured far inland, and the storm killed 500+ people and destroyed 57,000 + homes.

A friend of mine has a house on Lake Sunapee...
It's built from trees that were knocked down by the storm in 38... All the old houses around his were...
Great stuff.. Pretty sure it's cedar...

 

[JimG.]

I see my chicken little routine isn't scaring anyone. Oh well... :lol:

What if there was a strike and all of the breweries in the US were forced to stop production?

That would suck, right?

 

[loafer89]

I was reading the statistics from the 1938 hurricane:

186 mph wind gust at Blue Hill Observatory

600 people killed

17.0' storm surge

50' waves at Gloucester

63,000 people homeless

6.2 million dollars in damage (1998 adjusted 15 billion)

If this hit today it could be the largest natural disaster in U.S history.

 

[dmc]

What if there was a strike and all of the breweries in the US were forced to stop production?

That would suck, right?

For the love of god - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[bvibert]

I see my chicken little routine isn't scaring anyone. Oh well... :lol:

What if there was a strike and all of the breweries in the US were forced to stop production?

That would suck, right?

Now you're starting to scare people...

 

[ALLSKIING]

The safest place to live is North Dakota. WOW what a fun place to live