Is Washington safer than CA environmentally? (Seattle, Tacoma: earthquakes, place to live, dangerous)

[Jen78fl]

Hi all. Well my husband is in the coast guard and we will be moving next summer. Right now we are in Northern FL. Anyway, we have been to a few places on the east coast already and are thinking we might like a change and maybe try to go to the west coast. It looks really beautiful! We were thinking of CA but then with the earthquakes, landslides, and wildfires, were not so sure its a good place to live. So what Im wondering , is Washington state better than CA when it comes to those things? Also, I have a 5 year old son with autism and would like to be in an area where he will have good autism services. Anyway I appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!!

Jen

[StealthRabbit]

If you can handle rain and drizzle, then PNW is fine, otherwise look to Southern OR or far Northern CA. (Coast Guard station on Samoa, off of Eureka, CA (Town with enough services for medical needs). Some interesting people in Humbolt county, but lots to see and do as well. I wouldn't let the few earthquakes and volcanos stop you. (don't live on a cliff, or in a tsunami zone, or on an upward slope in wildfire prone area). Tho I would not want to do LA or SF due to # of people / cars.

[HeyHolliday!]

Washington does have windstorms, earthquakes, and landslides. If you live on the coast you could possibly have tsunami's(very very rare). It can be dangerous in the mountain regions for driving when it snows or gets icy(ever driven up an icy hill, it sucks and is dangerous). Some parts of Washington can flood pretty badly and if you move to the Seattle-Tacoma Metro you have Mt. Rainer which while beautiful is still technically an active volcano. I would not worry to much though about disasters. California, Oregon, and Washington all seem for the most part seem to have very similar environmental disasters.