# Most and Least Disastrous States to Live In



## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Came across this article and just thought I'd share. It's based on FEMA information.

States With Most Disasters:
1. Texas
2. California
3. Oklahoma

States With Least Disasters:
1. Rhode Island
2. Utah
3. Wyoming

I knew it was pretty bad here, but didn't think we'd rate third, lol. Now I have one more reason for hating Oklahoma, lol! 

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/the-quot-safest-quot-states-in-the-united-states-2469686/


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

I'll take tornados any day over the disaster that is Illinois state government.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Ernie said:


> I'll take tornados any day over the disaster that is Illinois state government.


:smiley-laughing013: no kidding!

Rhode Island is one of those states that sounds good on paper...lots of coastline, lots of history, no disasters....but so many people and such a high level of living that, well, why bother?


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## Batt (Sep 8, 2006)

Also keep in mind that Rhode Island is smaller than some counties in Texas. I'm pretty sure there would need to be some adjustments made if this were based on land mass.


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## yailukmuu (Mar 24, 2011)

Rhode Island ISa disaster!

Sorry but I used to work in MA, just over the RI line, and would go to Providence for Red Cross classes... It may be safe from disasters, but unemployment is soooooooo high there I'd cross it off the "safe" list, for that reason.


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## Pink_Carnation (Apr 21, 2006)

It is based on the most declared disasters not the amount of damage or deaths. If the disaster happens in a realatively unpoplulated area it might not be declared even though people live there and may have been impacted.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

I aint skared of no little twister....just step out of it's way...and whatever you do... dont try to ride it.

It's the fires that I worry about. Had a huge fire 2 miles from the house that burned thousand of acres....and a would have been huge fire down the hill from us....by some idiot welding in the wind


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

RI is a puzzle. It gets the nor'easters and Scituite (sp?) floods regularly.

But then FEMA made the list, which tells a lot right there. Even with Katrina , Louisiana missed out, even with Andrew and a few others, Florida missed out. I'm a little surprised they didn't label Hawaii as high risk so they could go there without having to use vacation money...


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Harry Chickpea said:


> RI is a puzzle. It gets the nor'easters and Scituite (sp?) floods regularly.
> 
> But then FEMA made the list, which tells a lot right there. Even with Katrina , Louisiana missed out, even with Andrew and a few others, Florida missed out. I'm a little surprised they didn't label Hawaii as high risk so they could go there without having to use vacation money...




What does your statement mean/insinuate? "FEMA made the list, which tells a lot right there"


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"What does your statement mean/insinuate? "FEMA made the list, which tells a lot right there" "

It means I refused to let FEMA on my property after hurricane Wilma. It means I watched a lot of the bungling they did, like having contractors under direct supervision half-finish a job at premium wages and then move on. I've had personal reports of FEMA turning church and charitable aid away from disaster areas. I saw how after Andrew it took someone yelling "Where is the cavalry?" to get any real assistance.

I don't trust FEMA pronouncements as far as I can spit. Other than that, I guess they are fine...


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## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

Adron said:


> Also keep in mind that Rhode Island is smaller than some counties in Texas. I'm pretty sure there would need to be some adjustments made if this were based on land mass.


My county would hold three Rhode Islands with plenty of room to spare.


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Deluge, by Brinkley, is a great book that outlines FEMA's role in the Katrina mess. Apparently there are some very good, very knowledgeable people within in the organization who have a great deal of experience in responding to disaster. Unfortunately, the top positions are politically appointed and that is where the problems come. People with no knowledge or experience are holding the reins. So the qualified underlings are ordered to do what they know is wrong and soon leave the organization for other work that doesn't make them so crazy.


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## FourDeuce (Jun 27, 2002)

I guess they didn't count the annual disaster that happens in the northern states in their calculations.:stars:


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## radiofish (Mar 30, 2007)

The 4th least Dangerous state is - the District of Columbia??? When did the US get a 51st state??

Reading the 'short' article and it's criteria used for them making up their list, I'll pass on the findings..

I am not a big fan of FEMA, either.. I try to stay as far away from them folks as possible, when I am doing my Disaster Service Work on the local and state levels..


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

FourDeuce said:


> I guess they didn't count the annual disaster that happens in the northern states in their calculations.:stars:


Are you referring to winter or elections?


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## freeholdfarms (Aug 10, 2007)

Rhode Island is smaller than the King Ranch is south TX!


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

I'll take Oklahoma over any other state too! I can go underground to avoid a tornado! No such luck with earthquakes or mudslides!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

calliemoonbeam said:


> Came across this article and just thought I'd share. It's based on FEMA information.
> 
> States With Most Disasters:
> 1. Texas
> ...


Rhode Island is too small for natural disasters... 

Utah has lots of them... however, a large share of the population knows how to take care of their own problems, and FEMA never gets 'the call'. [pure speculation on my part... don't even think about asking for references...]

Wyoming... lots of land, very few people (least populated state).... so if a disaster hit, who'd know about it.

Stay away from tornado alley, hurricane zones, coastal areas, active faults, volcanoes, and large gatherings of people, and you should be mostly safe.

.....did I get enough weasel words in there?


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

FourDeuce said:


> I guess they didn't count the annual disaster that happens in the northern states in their calculations.:stars:


I would bet that southern summers kill more folks than northern winters hands down. Winter weather is only a disaster if you chose to make it one. If you are smart and prepared it cannot hurt you.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

I agree about tornadoes. While they can be devastating and appear without real warning....They're spotty and you can hide from them if you see it. The effects are debris, and the [relatively] small path of destruction. 

Fires and earthquakes on the other hand.....NASTY. Can't hide from an earthquake. I suppose you can do the whole firebreak thing around a house tho, so you COULD, if you're prepared, be okay from most fires. At least you can prepare for safety by clearing debris and underbrush from your place, and by building with concrete maybe. 

blah. I'm rambling. need to go back to bed. :zzz:


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## sticky_burr (Dec 10, 2010)

has 101 temp ever made a roof collapse? i bet 3 feet of snow does serious damage. but then again you should build for more load than you will see.
as for tx or ok i would be in a dome and chillin thru the tornado


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Yeah but Oklahoma counts being beat by Texas in football as a disaster.
Well, it is natural.


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## foaly (Jan 14, 2008)

calliemoonbeam said:


> States With Most Disasters:
> 1. Texas
> 2. California
> 3. Oklahoma
> ...





mnn2501 said:


> Yeah but Oklahoma counts being beat by Texas in football as a disaster.
> Well, it is natural.


Tornadoes, fires, football. Oklahoma has its share of disasters. It's those darn terrorist bombs that blow up federal buildings that I can seem to shake out of my memory. Broken glass, paper flying through the air, dead bodies on the ground. Yup, that was a disaster I witnessed first hand. But hey, you have to hand it to us Native Oklahomans......we sure know how to respond to all the disasters! 

Wish I was back in my "disasterous" home state.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

sticky_burr said:


> has 101 temp ever made a roof collapse? i bet 3 feet of snow does serious damage. but then again you should build for more load than you will see.
> as for tx or ok i would be in a dome and chillin thru the tornado


Very seldom have I ever seen that, and never in a residence. If a house is properly built snow load is not a problem. You can dress for cold weather. There is no way to dress for 101 degrees.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

tinknal said:


> There is no way to dress for 101 degrees.


Well, there is, but it's not very flattering.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Ernie said:


> Well, there is, but it's not very flattering.


Not very effective either.

No one wants sun burn on their naughty bits.......


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

tinknal said:


> I would bet that southern summers kill more folks than northern winters hands down. Winter weather is only a disaster if you chose to make it one. If you are smart and prepared it cannot hurt you.


The heat can be handled if you know how. Much like northerners know how to handle the cold.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I always remember what Paula Poundstone replied when a storm chaser said he afraid of earthquakes after just saying a tornado sucked up a herd of mini-donkeys right in of him. She said that in an earthquake maybe her cat runs around the room but she's never had a flying mini-donkey land on her car.
In truth earthquakes themselves don't seem to kill most people- it does a huge amount of property damage but usually not loss of life. The worse one I can remember is the collapse of I80 where less than 100 people died. In lesser populated areas, death from an earthquake is rare- no big buildings to come down.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Spinner said:


> The heat can be handled if you know how. Much like northerners know how to handle the cold.


Of course. I was just protesting the the opinion of the poster who considers winter a "disaster".


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Why is Colorado 8???? What natural disasters do we need to worry about?????


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Merks said:


> Why is Colorado 8???? What natural disasters do we need to worry about?????


California Liberals.................


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## Pink_Carnation (Apr 21, 2006)

Merks said:


> Why is Colorado 8???? What natural disasters do we need to worry about?????


According to FEMA some of the disasters were flooding, dam failure, tornadoes, wildfires, and landslides. Colorado is actually #8 on the fewest disasters list.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

...................A hurricane is just an air powered Tsunami , and so the Tx coast is sufficiently Long too impact probably half the entire land mass of the state ! And , just because Tx hasn't been subjected too a major earthquake doesn't mean , "We" are exempt . , fordy


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## Wags (Jun 2, 2002)

> ...simple heatwaves kill far more people than all natural disasters combined...
> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16287-death-map-usa-natural-disaster-hotspots-revealed-.html



Threat Maps for the USA - maps cover everything from Tsunami risk to Wildfire risk


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

Fire, hail, tornado, blizzards


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

tinknal said:


> There is no way to dress for 101 degrees.


 Sure there is, we Texans do it every summer.


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## yailukmuu (Mar 24, 2011)

where I want to said:


> In truth earthquakes themselves don't seem to kill most people- it does a huge amount of property damage but usually not loss of life. The worse one I can remember is the collapse of I80 where less than 100 people died. In lesser populated areas, death from an earthquake is rare- no big buildings to come down.


Agreed, though official estimates of deaths in the San Francisco earthquake are "60" many believe that over 3000 died. 200,000 were left homeless. And the San Francisco earthquake was I believe #18 in size. (Though most of our biggest occurred in Alaska).

"The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and fire, San Francisco, California: registered 8.25 on the Richter scale; estimates range from 700 to 3,000 dead or missing, approximately 225,000 injuries and $400,000,000 in 1906 dollars."

The biggest disaster in the last century for deaths on American soil had no specific location:

"1918: March - November: Spanish influenza , Nationwide: outbreak of Spanish influenza killed over 500,000 people in the worst single U.S. epidemic."


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

mnn2501 said:


> Sure there is, we Texans do it every summer.


It appeared to me that you folks run from one air conditioned structure to another. Just like NC.


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## Pink_Carnation (Apr 21, 2006)

Heat can be dealt with. One summer DD helped on a school in China where the daytime temps were 105 with 95% humidity and no air-conditioning. They scheduled the more physical work to be done in the early morning and less strenous things when it was warmer.


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## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Guess they've never been Florida! Between the heat and humidity, hurricanes, sink holes, tornadoes, lightening (the lightening capital of the world in fact), severe storms, flooding, and wild fires, it's got a lot of potential problems - also considering it's almost an island. Oh yeah, and if you ask me, those giant Palmetto bugs and Love bugs are an plague in itself!


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

lonelytree said:


> It appeared to me that you folks run from one air conditioned structure to another. Just like NC.


I beg your pardon! NC native here - I've lived outside most of my life. We played in the heat as children, played sports and had band camp in it in high school and now work in it as adults. My elementary school was not even air conditioned (the cafeteria was, but it was a newer, separate building). So there. :nana:

But, yes - things have changed over the years (I'm only middle aged). You'd think folks were going to melt or something...


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

jlrbhjmnc said:


> I beg your pardon! NC native here - I've lived outside most of my life. We played in the heat as children, played sports and had band camp in it in high school and now work in it as adults. My elementary school was not even air conditioned (the cafeteria was, but it was a newer, separate building). So there. :nana:
> 
> But, yes - things have changed over the years (I'm only middle aged). You'd think folks were going to melt or something...


I don't think you have near the heat that the eastern side has. 

I will say that NC has some very unique people..... VERY. My buddy was looking to buy a new Jeep Cherokee. He went to the dealer in Goldsboro. He drove it and wanted to know the price. The salesman wanted to know what church he attended before he would give a price. My buddy said he went to the AF base church. The guy came back $2500 higher than the dealer in Releigh. My buddy told him so. The salesman said "You aren't going to drive ALL THE WAY to Releigh to save $2500" My buddy said, yes and we will honk when we drive past tomorrow. He bought a new one on Releigh and drove past honking for a couple weeks......


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

lonelytree said:


> I don't think you have near the heat that the eastern side has.


I should have noted that I've only been in Western NC for a couple of years - I was raised in Eastern NC and then lived on the coast.

The car deal, lol. I say, keep on honking! $2,500 is a lot of money.


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## spiffydave (Mar 19, 2008)

I'm not sure if they count earthquakes as disasters, as Utah has many active faults and is overdue for a large earthquake:



> The chance of a large earthquake in the Wasatch Front region during the next 50 years is about 1 in 4.





> If the earthquake were to occur on a central part of the Wasatch fault, Utah should expect damage to buildings to exceed $4.5 billion in Davis, Salt Lake, Utah and Weber counties. This may only represent 20% of the total economic loss.


http://www.seis.utah.edu/qfacts/utfaq.shtml


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## Pink_Carnation (Apr 21, 2006)

The FEMA list of disasters is largely storm damage, flooding, earthquakes, and fire. However they also included El NiÃ±o effects on the salmon industry.

http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters_state.fema?id=53 this is the list for Washington and the disasters they have counted.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> Sure there is, we Texans do it every summer.


We just went through a tough winter without heat. Want to give up AC for the next 6 months?


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## FourDeuce (Jun 27, 2002)

tinknal said:


> We just went through a tough winter without heat. Want to give up AC for the next 6 months?


I recently got AC again after having given it up for about 3 years. :cowboy:


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## lonelytree (Feb 28, 2008)

FourDeuce said:


> I recently got AC again after having given it up for about 3 years. :cowboy:


I melt at 85 F. You can have the heat and humidity.


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## Raven12 (Mar 5, 2011)

Hurricanes aren't bad at all. You can prep for those. Tornadoes...I hate those things. They can appear out of nowhere.

As far as humidity is concerned...nothing beats the Eastern LA & MS region on the Gulf. Eastern NC doesn't hold a candle to it.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

If you stay away from the gulf coast [say 150+ miles] then you don't have to be concerned about hurricanes. It is the storm surge that destroys the man made edifices.

The TX hill country is above any storm surge, mile high tsunami, whatever. Wild fire is easy to defend against, trim the trees around your home. No problem.


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## dogrunner (Mar 2, 2009)

Adron said:


> Also keep in mind that Rhode Island is smaller than some counties in Texas. I'm pretty sure there would need to be some adjustments made if this were based on land mass.


Or as we always said growing up in ALaska, we could split in half and still be larger than Texas!!!


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