Where to move to escape disasters? (homes, schools, earthquakes)
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The Research Triangle ( Raleigh/Durham,NC) has a good tech sector. There is always a slight risk of rain from hurricanes living inland within the southeast, and some tornado risk , but its a great area as well as Western NC, but I dont know of any area in WNC thats a good tech sector west of Raleigh. There have been a few smaller fires in NC , but nothing like the west. If you want to live in a cooler area , look above 3500 feet in western NC somewhere.
Phoenix,AZ is pretty safe from disasters , but it has a brutal summer , more than the rest of the southwest. AZ had a bad fire year this year and last , but nothing that was within the metro city limits.
Chattanooga,TN seems to be decent for tech and besides a tornado or 2 it seems fairly safe from disasters.
Sacramento,CA is worth looking into if you think you want to deal driving to the Bay area as needed for work.
I heard Orlando and Tallahassee,FL are gaining some ground in the tech sector but you know, the hurricane thing.
I will never recommend anywhere in the northeast or that gets below freezing during the winter in the east as eastern wet cold feels colder than western dry cold.
PNW is on the Ring of Fire, the Cascadia subduction zone and the closest major population area from Yellowstone.
That beautiful scenery and hiking comes from the fact that the whole area is incredibly geologically active.
Nowhere is totally risk free. If you compare Washington to Louisiana, which seems to get 2 hurricanes per year, then the risk of natural disasters in WA seems pretty low on a relative basis. Most of the country is at risk of hurricanes and tornadoes, but WA is largely immune from them.
I think you’re already living in the right spot. The PNW is probably the least disaster prone part of the US and it meets all your other criteria which isn’t easy. If you really need to move though I think Boston is your best option. It isn’t immune from disasters, but the ones they do get aren’t too bad and you can see them coming unlike an earthquake.
I agree with that 100%, but you would never know it by listening to posters on the Washington and Oregon forums who are waiting for the mega earthquake and tsunami that is going to wipe out the entire PNW in one swipe. It's almost like some people just can't enjoy living in a safe place. They have to find something to worry about. The OP appears to be one of them.
I agree with that 100%, but you would never know it by listening to posters on the Washington and Oregon forums who are waiting for the mega earthquake and tsunami that is going to wipe out the entire PNW in one swipe. It's almost like some people just can't enjoy living in a safe place. They have to find something to worry about. The OP appears to be one of them.
Sorry but the idea that the PNW is the LEAST disaster prone area in the US is frankly absurd. Either people don’t live in the area and are ignorant about it or they do live in the area and are ignorant about it. Not only are there the annual wildfires that happen both east and west of the Cascades, there is the subduction zone plus quite a few other fault lines. There are several volcanoes.
And to the person who says there aren’t blizzards? Psssh. They don’t happen that often, but they do happen enough - about once a year. And when they do it’s pandemonium. Way way way worse than in the Midwest or Northeast because the area is poorly equipped to handle it, AND there are these things called hills, BIG hills. So 6+ inches of snow is a blizzard for us even though other places could get 3x that and it’s not a big deal. And just because it’s raining in Seattle doesn’t mean it’s raining in the foothills. Ice is also a possibility here which can be deadly and there are plenty of dumb people around here who think they can travel the mountain passes without chains because they drive a Subaru and end up in a ditch or worse. Oh, and there are violent windstorms that happen almost like clockwork every November in Western Washington with torrential rain. Also the possibility of landslides, rockslides and avalanches. I’ve gotten tied up nearby a rockslide and it’s terrifying.
This doesn’t mean that people who live here should live in fear, but those who have concerns are right to have them. You can prep for certain disasters to a degree but it’s always a gamble, just like it’s a gamble getting on the road every day.
yea...that's my husband's argument too. And I would also be okay with minor earthquake risk like mentioned in other states.
It's the idea of the 'big one', and that scale of devastation, that legit keeps me up at night sometimes especially if I hear of anything related in the news - like yesterday what spooked me into writing this post was a bunch of earthquakes recorded off coast of Oregon. I know anyone of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow. But in a disaster of that magnitude, pun intended - I mean, in the best case scenario we all survive but the entire coast would be destroyed, we would lose EVERYTHING and have to move anyways and start over from scratch somewhere else with nothing, which I can't fathom. In the worst case I could lose my entire family in a moment. Maybe I need therapy lol but it's really hard to let that thought go when it creeps into my head. It's like, it might not happen. But IF it does, the stakes are literally everything. And if even the thought alone makes me want to throw up, I can't imagine mentally making it through the ptsd if I had to live through it or being there for my kids, and that thought also scares me. Not having that risk hanging over my head would remove a huge source of anxiety from my life...
I live on the Oregon Coast and I didn't feel any of those earthquakes. As a matter of fact, I have never felt an earthquake on the Oregon Coast. I did however feel dozens of earthquakes when living in California. Some of them strong enough to cause damage. Earthquakes off the Oregon Coast should be of zero concern to you, unless you are living right on the waterfront. Even then, the risk from them is far less then the risk of disasters in other parts of the country.
In short, you are trying to jump out of the frying pan into the fire .
sorry but the idea that the pnw is the least disaster prone area in the us is frankly absurd. Either people don’t live in the area and are ignorant about it or they do live in the area and are ignorant about it. Not only are there the annual wildfires that happen both east and west of the cascades, there is the subduction zone plus quite a few other fault lines. There are several volcanoes.
and to the person who says there aren’t blizzards? Psssh. They don’t happen that often, but they do happen enough - about once a year. And when they do it’s pandemonium. Way way way worse than in the midwest or northeast because the area is poorly equipped to handle it, and there are these things called hills, big hills. So 6+ inches of snow is a blizzard for us even though other places could get 3x that and it’s not a big deal. And just because it’s raining in seattle doesn’t mean it’s raining in the foothills. Ice is also a possibility here which can be deadly and there are plenty of dumb people around here who think they can travel the mountain passes without chains because they drive a subaru and end up in a ditch or worse. Oh, and there are violent windstorms that happen almost like clockwork every november in western washington with torrential rain. Also the possibility of landslides, rockslides and avalanches. I’ve gotten tied up nearby a rockslide and it’s terrifying.
This doesn’t mean that people who live here should live in fear, but those who have concerns are right to have them. You can prep for certain disasters to a degree but it’s always a gamble, just like it’s a gamble getting on the road every day.
Sorry but the idea that the PNW is the LEAST disaster prone area in the US is frankly absurd. Either people don’t live in the area and are ignorant about it or they do live in the area and are ignorant about it. Not only are there the annual wildfires that happen both east and west of the Cascades, there is the subduction zone plus quite a few other fault lines. There are several volcanoes.
And to the person who says there aren’t blizzards? Psssh. They don’t happen that often, but they do happen enough - about once a year. And when they do it’s pandemonium. Way way way worse than in the Midwest or Northeast because the area is poorly equipped to handle it, AND there are these things called hills, BIG hills. So 6+ inches of snow is a blizzard for us even though other places could get 3x that and it’s not a big deal. And just because it’s raining in Seattle doesn’t mean it’s raining in the foothills. Ice is also a possibility here which can be deadly and there are plenty of dumb people around here who think they can travel the mountain passes without chains because they drive a Subaru and end up in a ditch or worse. Oh, and there are violent windstorms that happen almost like clockwork every November in Western Washington with torrential rain. Also the possibility of landslides, rockslides and avalanches. I’ve gotten tied up nearby a rockslide and it’s terrifying.
This doesn’t mean that people who live here should live in fear, but those who have concerns are right to have them. You can prep for certain disasters to a degree but it’s always a gamble, just like it’s a gamble getting on the road every day.
In those foothills maybe we get six inches of snow in most years, but not where I live near Downtown. The median might be an inch or two, which might last more than a day. Yes we close stuff down at even the threat of snow, but that's mostly disruption rather than real danger for most people.
We avoid most wildfire smoke due to prevailing winds. This year it was very light. Go south or east and it's much worse.
Volcanoes threaten people in the mountains, but there's no real danger in the cities. Maybe a mudflow could affect Tacoma if Rainier goes. Ash would be a problem but mostly for property, farmers, convenience, etc.
Torrential rain? Yes, recently. But until then the rainiest day at Sea-Tac in a decade was two inches (iirc), which is nothing by Gulf Coast standards.
Rockslides, mudslides, and flooded river valleys can be major problems, but really don't kill many people.
Someone earlier said that part of what makes the PNW so beautiful is also what makes it so dangerous. I definitely need to rep them.
I already said that risks are something we take every day wherever we live. But for some people certain risks outweigh the benefits and that’s their choice.
What I took extreme issue with is the argument that the PNW is the safest place in the US in terms of natural disasters, because I would almost say the opposite is true (maybe second to the coastal southeast) as much as I love this area. I can’t really think of an area that has such a diverse range of natural disasters that could potentially be a risk.
In those foothills maybe we get six inches of snow in most years, but not where I live near Downtown. The median might be an inch or two, which might last more than a day. Yes we close stuff down at even the threat of snow, but that's mostly disruption rather than real danger for most people.
We avoid most wildfire smoke due to prevailing winds. This year it was very light. Go south or east and it's much worse.
Volcanoes threaten people in the mountains, but there's no real danger in the cities. Maybe a mudflow could affect Tacoma if Rainier goes. Ash would be a problem but mostly for property, farmers, convenience, etc.
Torrential rain? Yes, recently. But until then the rainiest day at Sea-Tac in a decade was two inches (iirc), which is nothing by Gulf Coast standards.
Rockslides, mudslides, and flooded river valleys can be major problems, but really don't kill many people.
I don’t think it necessarily should be measured only in terms of personal death risk but also by the effect it has or could have overall. I’ve seen Seattle get shut down by 6+ inches of snow. That would never happen in New York or Chicago.
And another thing I think we need to talk about is the recent trend of extreme heat in Western Washington, particularly last year which ended up beating out the St Helens eruption as the deadliest natural disaster in Washington’s history. In an area which doesn’t have very much air conditioning, that’s a real problem.
I also disagree about the smoke - this year wasn’t horrible but it was definitely horrible the past few years where people were getting nosebleeds and respiratory issues from inhaling all of that carcinogenic smoke.
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