Michigan might be cold, but we usually don’t get severe tornadoes, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no mud slides, and not a ton of fires. In terms of natural disasters, we are pretty boring.
Try Central Valley of California. After growing up in Florida and spending time in Texas, this is the most mundane place when it comes to weather. Down at the base of the Valley (cities along hwy 99) are not anywhere near the foothills or wildland areas that catch fire. We don't get freezing temps but maybe skirt around the low 30's for a night or two. It only rains in the winter time, and it's usually just boring, dreary, cold rain. Very rarely will there be thunderstorms or lightning. Since I'm not on PG&E for electricity, we don't have to deal with "blackouts due to extreme heat". And my county has also done a pretty decent job keeping our reservoir full enough to keep the water flowing. Some of the others, like the ones for the Bay Area can get drastically low during drought times. We also don't have to share our water with LA.
@@jaytaylor629 Not all parts of California are affected by earthquakes. The Central Valley rarely feels anything more than a rumble if one happens more on the interior rather than the San Andreas or towards the coast.
One natural disaster that often gets missed but is one that causes many deaths is heat waves. This would include huge swaths of the southern USA, desert southwest, central plains, Ohio valley, and southeast coastal plains.
@@richdobbs6595 you are the one mistaken. for heat related deaths Nevada and Arizona had the highest rates of death per million residents, at 36.6 and 71.9, respectively
I would much rather deal with a blizzard than a hurricane, or most other types of disasters. I have lived through many blizzards and ice storms. My house was heated with a wood stove. So if the power went out, we still had heat, we could keep our perishable food cold by putting it outside, and we could cook food on the wood stove. If needed, we could melt snow for sanitation needs, such as washing dishes or bathing. We could read or play games by candlelight for entertainment.
@@menwithven8114really? Why? In the vast majority of blizzards you can just stay inside and wait them out. Hurricanes are typically much more deadly and the costs are way higher. Flooding is the most expensive natural disaster. I would be a lot more worried about property damage in a hurricane.
@@mrburns805 If your not in a flood zone, hurricanes aren't that bad. Just board up your window and you should be fine. I've been in 2 hurricanes but never got flooded.
@@mrburns805really depends on the strength of the hurricane and if you are in a flood plain or not, if you’re not at risk of flooding and the hurricane isn’t strong you can ride them out as long as you know that power may be out for a couple hours to a day, there is a reason many people in Florida not near the coast don’t evacuate until there is a major hurricane especially as buildings here can handle way more wind than Cat 1, even Cat 2, or even Cat 3. Though I would probably rather a Blizzard than a Cat 4 and especially Cat 5 or if I lived near the coast.
A lot of us probably thought western North Carolina would be safe from natural disasters, especially hurricanes. I did anyway. I didn't take into account the rivers that funnel water into the area. It's awful to see what has been done to such a beautiful area. And awesome Asheville NC, one of my favorite places, has a lot of recovering to do. Thanks Kyle. Another great video.
Honestly Im with you on that. I've been living in Florida most of my life and dealt with hurricanes. I didn't consider the flooding we would get too much either. Some spots have gotten 14+ inches of rain from the storm and several inches from prior to Milton. A lot of our lakes and rivers are going up. Though I think it's quite disgraceful that the news didn't focus on the size and how much water Helene was able to carry and dropped on y'all well prior to landfall. Instead of focusing on the landfall.
@@mattwhaley1865 That is a good point. Big hurricanes have brought massive amounts of rainfall to places on the East Coast but people would rather forget about it and not plan for future events. I lived in Newport News, Virginia in 1979 or so when a hurricane dumped so much rain that we has a few feet of flood water in our neighborhood near Rt. 64 and Harpersville Road. It was very extreme but everybody seemed to forget about it quickly and just not talk about it again.
Yes, this only discussed the problems of water flooding in low-lying areas, and not the problems of flash flooding, debris flows, and landslides in mountainous areas that can have heavy rain from a hurricane remnant like Helene hitting western North Carolina. Those hazards are found in places with higher topography and slopes, including California. Some of those desert areas that he mentioned as not having large floods can have localized flash flooding in the canyons of the more mountainous areas.
Yeah now that i think about it it’s basically just a bomb pop flipped on its skde, west being the red as it’s got plenty of fire, but also cherry flavored, the middle would be all the stormy and cloudy type stuff, which fits the white part of that popcicle, and the east is the blue raspberry, it’s colder in the north and gets lots of water related disasters on the coasts and rivers, hence why it’s blue.
The deadliest fire in U.S. history was the Peshtigo Wi fire, some of that had to do with poor logging practices though leaving huge brush piles sitting around etc. The same day was the Chicago fire which took all the media attention at the time.
This is a picky little thing that I thank you A WHOLE LOT for getting right. I've seen a bunch of natural disaster videos in the last several months, and nobody - until now - has pronounced "New Madrid" fault correctly. That drives me nuts. I was on the 6th (top) floor of a small office building far north of the epicenter of the 1968 New Madrid earthquake. We felt it. Not severely, but the building shook. I learned in the days after how to pronounce "New MAD-rid," and have never forgotten.
Your Majesty, the King! I'm loving these new "event" based videos. You have done an excellent job diversifying your content and consistently bringing to your viewers new and different ways to think about geography. It ain't just state capitols anymore! Thanks, Kyle! Long Live the King!!!! Along the lines of this video, I'm currently living in Northeast Ohio (still own my place in NYC, but work sends me all over creation!), and I have to say that other than the very infrequent tornadoes, it seems relatively free from meteorological and geological mayhem. Even snowfall has been infrequent. I've been on the assignment since 2022, and in the two winters I've been here, we had two significant snow storms, and in both instances, the snow turned to slush within 48 hours. All said and done, the Cleveland-Akron area is pretty risk free.
You missed a couple. One which we worry about most of all on the west coast: Tsunami. Like volcanoes it's very infrequent but could have the potential to kill millions of people and wipe out exposed cities. I think it is more of a worry than earthquakes here in Victoria BC even though we are an earthquake hot spot. West coast, Alaska and Hawaii are all vulnerable to tsunami. I am oceanfront about 15 feet above sea level. I should also mention landslides and lahar, which have wiped out entire towns in the West of the continent.
There is a Tsunami 🌊 threat to the east coast, via a volcano 🌋 or mountain in the Canary Islands, with an “unstable” side, that “experts” say, if it “detaches,” falling into the ocean, 🌊 , predicting a big tsunami 🌊 for 🇺🇸, east coast. This Tsunami 🌊 could affect other places, as well, but I paid most attention to the report about this tsunami coming to the east coast 🇺🇸.
Lahars are a major hazard from volcanoes, but he did cover several of the volcano hazards. The risk of lahars from Mt. Rainier are significant but limited to the area within about 20-30 miles of the volcano. Yes, tsunamis are a high-impact risk for the Pacific Northwest, extending down into Northern California, due to the Cascadia Megathrust. He mentioned the magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Alaska (1964) that caused a huge tsunami in Alaska and hit Hawaii, but we have plenty of evidence that there was a magnitude about 9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia Megathrust in January 1700 that caused a large tsunami that caused widespread damage in the PNW and reached Japan.
I live in the Canadian province of Manitoba which is safe from most natural disasters. Sure there are occasional blizzards and flooding every now and then but I would take those over hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis or volcanoes any day.
8:42 just bought our first house in Fort Worth, TX last summer, and one of the major factors that led us to buy this one is it already had an above ground tornado shelter installed in the garage. We haven’t gotten A TON of tornadoes recently, but it’s great to know if we do, my family and pets will be safe
Just went through Helene's wrath in Western NC. I live right beside a creek. After that experience, I really don't ever want to live beside any body of water again. You are absolutely right about the power and dangers of water. I spent 30 years in FL dealing with hurricanes, but Helene gave me a whole new perspective.
The pacific northwest, especially oregon, has become super screwed over with wildfires recently. It seems every year oregon has the biggest in the country. I'd like california to take that title back.
I’ve always liked the idea of Oregon, but the thought of the earthquakes and tsunamis terrifies me. Granted I live in FL with hurricanes, but at least we usually have days to prepare. I have not heard too much about wildfires in Oregon. Usually more CA. Are they more out east like near the cascades, or the valleys and coast? Interesting.
@@476233 tsunamis aren't a threat for most people in Oregon. Most of oregon's population is on the I-5 corridor which is between the coastal mountains and cascade mountains. Portland is not on the coast, it's several hours inland. Portland is at the foot of the cascades and the entire west side of the state is incredibly dense rainforest. Wildfires can happen any where. It's not unusual to be blanketed in smoke for a few weeks in the summer. Some years like 2020 got REALLY bad. Google 2020 oregon wildfires if you want to see how bad it can get. They're definitely the most common threat to us. A big earthquake could not happen in our lifetimes.
Wildfires smoke is a much wider hazard, in Idaho there were several years where the were no fires locally but the air quality from PNW fires could be really bad.
PNW wasn't the only area affected by wildfires this year but The Southwest as well. I live in Southern NV with my 2 kids. CA had a lot of wildfires this past summer. NV had 2 or 3. AZ had quite a few. The Southwest has been in a megadrought for 24 years. Every year the wildfires are getting worse in Western Canada, PNW, The West Coast & The Southwest.
Texas 2024 over 1 million acres burned along with 500 homes/ranches and cattle. Obviously your ignorant children and should stick to playing video games.
The areas you concluded were safest are very high risk for a person dying of cold temperatures. These are certainly weather related deaths. I believe if you include deaths from hot and cold weather along with the conditions you surveyed, You’ll find the safest part of the country is New Mexico.
I've experienced hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires and drought, which contributes to wildfires, firsthand over the past 60 years. I've had my share of Nature's worst. Weather born disasters can be easy to avoid, in a general sense, but they can really mess up your life if you choose not to respect them. I've lived on Florida's gulf coast for 3 years and have come to loathe hurricanes in that short time. My current plan is to get the hell out of this state as soon as financially possible.
Im in the Michigan UP my neighbor is a Snow Bird he comes home for 2-3 months then head's back to a trailer in Florida just a few miles NE of Tampa? I know that the last Hurricane had to make him rethink his choice to stay in a warmer area. I'll take the Snow and Cold over Florida anyday I lived and worked in Florida for a decade. Got tired of the Sudden Torrential rain/thunderstorms Bugs ' . mosquitoes and love bugs and Fire ants !! are the worst!" Just a few deer, foxes and an occasional Elk travels through my yard. Yes i live in a small city not many know about. We have lots of wildlife like Alaska has in its towns.
When I was a child back in the 80s, I was reading through my dad's encyclopedias and ran across a section regarding natural disasters. Included was a series of maps of the US showing where each disaster tended to occur. I deduced from flipping through the maps that Salt Lake City was the best place to live if I wanted to be safe from Mother Nature. Now I'm in my 40s and have never even been to SLC, although I have been to southern Utah and was unimpressed. I think I'll stay living in Tornado Alley.
I am 70 and have lived in the SLC area all my life. I have felt 3 minor-ish earthquakes (swaying motion and swinging lamps). Also there was a freaky tornado that hit downtown on Aug 11, 1999 right between two high rise buildings, with 1 death and 81 injuries. So, perhaps you can be extra happy with your decision to stay where you are! Best wishes.
Wonderful video with great research as always, my sire! I appreciate that you take the time to grasp a holistic understanding of the central topics you cover. This subject is becoming more salient every passing year with the continual worsening of natural disasters. My brother lives in Asheville and has seen an incredible amount of destruction in WNC from the hurricane Helene flooding. Asheville is supposed to be too far away to be so affected by a hurricane, but the bigger they are, the farther they go.
South Dakota here, we gets derechos too (super high winds not associated with a tornado). But I still love it here. Less mosquitos than the old Wisconsin and not nearly as much ticks. I have had three tick diseases, eatch out for ticks in Wisconsin!
Eastern Ohio tends to be pretty safe. Worst we've had have been a few floods, blizzards and ice storms, an occasional tornado (not nearly as many as the flatter western half) and the weak tail end of a hurricane. Compared to most, we got it pretty good here.
Thank you for this video! It was well presented and very comprehensive. You are also very knowledgeable and did not over sensationalize the information ... a refreshing change from all the other disaster scenario videos out there! You did an excellent job providing relevant and understandable material. 🙂👍
Nice catch that Dubuque is well above the Mississippi River and most people live on the bluffs and hills. People accept risk on where they live. Asheville was beautiful and relatively low population so few anticipated landslides galore that plugged up the culvert and bridge crossings exasperating flooding, nor how hard the recovery will be because most roads run along the rivers and streams. Throw in the human hazard of preppers freaking out about FEMA coming to take their lithium deposits and you got a real mess. Good video!
This is true on a smaller scale with the house that my husband & I own; it’s only 1/4 mile from the Shunganunga Creek that runs through Topeka, Kansas, but it’s uphill from it.
Stopping a wildfire is not only dangerous and unpredictable, but also undesirable. Forests evolved under a fire regiment and depriving them of that causes all sorts of things to go out of whack there. Instead, you have to understand that if you elect to live in the forest, someday, sooner or later, fire _will_ come knocking on your door, if the forest ecosystem is to remain healthy.
I'm a wildland firefighter, you're not wrong but there is more nuance to wildfires than that. Climate change has made fires burn bigger and hotter than nature intended, and they're mostly human started. I would say we contain fires rather than stop them. If a fire isn't severe and isn't threatening structures we will often let it run its course. But people live everywhere now, and a city or town takes priority. Controlled burns are carried out to prevent worse fires and improve the health of forests.
I live in the desert, (Say My Name!), there is drought, wildland fires (the real-life Smokey the Bear came from here), haboobs, severe freezes, a tornado or two every century, and during the wet season sometimes "inland hurricanes", very severe monsoon thunderstorms that rapidly fill the arroyos, rip the branches out of the cottonwoods, and cause civil damage. Plus, being surrounded by all those dormant volcanoes and hot springs is a little discomforting...
@@NoahOhannessian I actually live in probably the only major SW desert metro that has a surplus of potable water, mostly being due to being built on a giant sponge of a mesa (an "underground Lake Superior") and because we are extremely frugal with water usage. As a result, our aquifers continue to rise and droughts do not create "water crisis" here in a humanitarian sense, but rather in an ecological and economic sense.
I am also subscribed to the channel "American Resiliencey" and she's a climate specialist that goes over the latest climate data for each state. Basically, yep, she considers the region in the states around the Great Lakes to be the "life boat" for overall resiliency. MN, WI, MI...Oddly, much of PA (except around the city of Philadelphia) will be fairly good too.
I experienced multiple earthquakes living in the Seattle area. The 6.5 in 1965 and the 6.8 in 2001 were the biggest. I also watched Mt St Helens erupt twice in 1980. The August eruption looked dramatic, but it wasn't nearly as destructive as the initial May eruption. The number of small earthquakes in the Kent valley pre- and post-eruption were ridiculous. It was like being on a giant bowl of Jell-O. There was an F3 tornado in the valley in 1969 and a waterspout on Lake Washington in 2003. Now I live in southern New Mexico. No hurricanes, tornados, or earthquakes. The destructive force here is wildfires in the wooded mountain regions. Ruidoso was surrounded by fires this summer and then inundated by flooding from rains the soil couldn't absorb afterward. The alert I heard repeated on the radio multiple times was "Evacuate IMMEDIATELY!! GO NOW!!" Wow. I feel safe where I live in the Mesilla Valley. The Rio Grand River is dry most of the year and water is released from Caballo Lake only for irrigation. No flood hazard there. We do get gully washers during monsoon in parts of the valley but they don't cause massive damage. In fact, we've had less than 4" of rain so far this year, so we're more concerned about ongoing drought and crop irrigation. I'm still happy here after 13 years so I think I'll stay.
As someone who is lived in FL my whole life I'll take hurricanes over anything else. Hurricanes don't sneak up on you, there is plenty of time to evacuate. A well built home can withstand a lot of wind. We went thru the eyewall of Cat 2 Wilma and only lost a few trees. However if you are on the coast, a bay or a river then storm surge is a nightmare since there is nothing you can do to avoid it. My nightmare is earthquakes... I don't know how people put up with that possibility. Fires and flash floods are also impossible to deal with, so no thank you. Tornadoes are just completely random since they can wipe out one house yet leave another one untouched.
Actually the four deadliest wildfires in US history happened in Wisconsin (Peshtigo), Minnesota (Cloquet and Hinckley) and Michigan (Thumb). Though they all happened in 19th century so maybe the conditions are different now. Very interesting video anyway!
Such great historical record compendium maps! You could do a whole video on the best resources for finding historical incidence maps, such as these, as seen in this video! Truly great!
One thing you should know about Florida. It has long sand ridges that stretch from north to south. I live on one north of Tampa. I am 72 feet above mean sea level. These sand ridges do not flood. Rain water just sinks into the sand. I am also twenty miles inland and this usually tames the wind. All of the new homes are cinder block and have low fully gabled roofs. Most of the damage you see are people who have insanely built on barrier islands.
@@Chris_at_Home I live twenty miles north of Brooksville. in Citrus County. The two places are different. More people and traffic in Brooksville. Over the last fifty years congestion and development has spread north from Pinellas County.
As a Michigander, I spent most of my life thinking that I wanted to get out of the cold Michigan. Now nearing retirement, I find that with global worming and lack of natural disasters, Michigan is the ideal location. I am staying put and buying property for those who will be looking for a safe haven. Welcome to Michigan!!
I'm thinking Michigan is looking pretty good, I can deal and function better in cold than in heat. I'm in the North part of San Diego, very nice but sadly fast becoming overpopulated. Plus the taxes, with everything are horrible. Highest gasoline prices, food prices are out of control. Time to go elsewhere.
I live in Maine and for the most part we escape the worst kind of weather events. Sure it gets chilly and occasionally ice buildup on trees and power lines cause outages. But the last major event that occured was the ice storm of 1999 which was 25 years ago.
THe Midwest is one of the worst place for tick diseases though. I've had THREE of them. Not fun. Deet and a lot of clothing didn't stop me from getting bit those three times. The best thing you can do is if you're going into the woods or state park in late May to August is to check yourself thoroughly after and TAKE A THRROUGH SHOWER and wash the clothes you hiked in right away, they can't creathe water. Also check your shoes and jackets. The worst one that passes the most is the female deer tick, from which I got Babiosis and Anaplasmosis (worse than Lyme disease by the way, they eat your blood cells and lower your oxygen, and ability to fight infection). When you get a bug bite and are feeling something is not right, get tested for a tick disease even ask for a round of coxycycline. In my case, the doxycycline saved my life.
One of very few upsides to living in the UK is the total lack of natural disasters. It might flood now and again and we sometimes get 100mph+ gusts of wind, but no volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires or blizzards, or any severe heat or severe cold.
I moved to Richmond, VA 3 years ago. I try to tell people that it is nearly a perfect place to live from a natural/geologic disasters stand point. No sizable earthquakes, stays wet enough for fires to not be a problem, no blizzards, no hurricanes, flooding isn't really a problem, tornados are rare, no volcanoes, no tsunamis. From a construction stand point, houses aren't really built with basements here for the most part nor on concrete slabs but rather with crawl spaces so even moderate flooding likely wouldn't even get in your house in the event water came in your yard Easily livin' for a mid-sized city.
Kyle, I noticed your opening sound is different, and the picture is just slightly different. You also seem to have remodeled or moved your studio. Looks good! Also, another well done video!
I live in Northern Virginia which seems pretty safe from most natural disasters. Some hurricanes and tropical storms can happen in the late summer/early fall but they are not as bad typically as Florida. Hurricane Isabel from 2003 and that Derecho in the summer of 2012 are the most notable ones that come to mind from my experience.
Be sure to check dam locations too. And the county soil survey does a better job mapping floodplains and stream terraces than FEMA, IMHO. It will also address landslide soils too, at least in the printed books.
11:45 That is one way to look at it. Another way is that major earthquakes have happened and have now stabilized the tectonic plate for generations to come. If you are going to try to predict when a natural disaster will occur, you are going to lose.
I will say on the flooding bit, PA is also kinda infamous for being home to a lot of the Susquehanna, which gets very violent very quickly if it's allowed to flood over the levees that're in place in the Wyoming Valley
Lancaster County gets a lot of flash flooding here in the Susquehanna valley. Too many creeks and streams that flow into the bigger rivers like Conestoga, Susquehanna and Delaware. If those hurricane riders up the east coast get Philly, we get it inland here too. We're always watching.
As someone who has lived in Southeast Florida my whole life, (28 years) I've only experienced two significant hurricanes. Wilma and Irma. However we've had way too many close calls to count. By far the scariest close call was Dorian. We dodged a category 5 sized bullet with that one. Unfortunately The Bahamas wasn't so lucky.
Yes, here in the SW, the floods fill the bosques with freshly ground-up Rockies and wipe out vegetation so that the cottonwoods can sprout with less competition. The cottonwoods carefully time their cottonseed release with the spring floods, and fish use the high flows as a cue to spawn.
You didn't mention the Juan de Fuca plate in the PNW that's overdue for a big one. It's capable of 9.0+ and last shook at that intensity in January of 1700.
I live along the Red River of the North, so obviously flooding is the main concern. We're finally building a diversion on the river like Winnipeg did in the 1960s (which has paid for itself many times now by mitigating catastrophic floods), so hopefully we'll be safe and insurable for several decades.
idk where you got 2 Cat 5 landfalls in the US since 2000... there's been only 4 in recorded history, 1935 Labor Day, 69 Camille, 92 Andrew, and 2018 Michael
Michael in 2018 and the 2nd was Maria in 2017 that made landfall in Puerto Rico. It was a Category 5 when it hit Dominica, but it weakened to a Category 4 a few hours before landfall in PR, so I was mistaken that it was a Cat 5 landfall for the US.
West Virginia is pretty safe. The mountains dissuade most wind events, and we're moist so the fire risk is moderate. Just don't live in the bottom of the hollows or next to the rivers.
@@breakingboardrooms1778 I live in the boonies. All we have are State Boys and they're scarce - keep the speed to the limit plus 9 MPHs and you'll never interact with one.
I live in the eastern Sierra region of California. We deal with a fair amount of snow, my driveway gets 17 feet in an average year. However, averages are the mathematical result of a set of extremes! We get drought and then we got 220% of average snowfall in 2022-2023. We have a ton of extinct volcanoes and I live in the Long Valley Caldera, which erupted 760,000 years ago. Similar to Yellowstone, which has a caldera and erupted with greater force and effect. The caldera and the Sierra still rising 1.25" per century results in a lot of small earthquakes. There are dozens per day that can't be felt at all. We also have a wildfire hazard. We are retired and can't afford to move. I can't think of a place that has all the wonderful features we have here and is "safe" from natural disasters.
There is another similar Caldera in NM, the Valles Caldera, which is itself inside an even larger, older one. Just outside of the rim is the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the city of Los Alamos, NM.
@@Kehk-in-a-MiG I lived in New Mexico for nearly 4 years in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I've taken trips to that area. The natural setting of New Mexico is incredible.
From Duluth MN, I love the hills, the lake, hiking, beaches, having distinct seasons, and big city Minneapolis/Stpaul not far away is a big plus. Its great up here. Perfect I might dare say! No natural disasters here other than occasional winter storm accompanied by gale winds. Amazing to see lake superior produce 15 foot waves lol
I’ve lived in CA (earthquakes, smoke from wild fires) TX and FL (hurricanes and flash flooding) and Great Lakes (blizzards). Blizzards are the easiest to deal with because I always had advanced notice. Flash flooding was the hardest (not enough notice).
I swear here in south carolina back in the 80s and 90s we use to have some horrible thunderstorms all summer. And frequent ice storms. Belive it or not I feel the weather isn't as extreme as it was
The earthquake that happened after the Ridgecrest a few years ago was the only one that I felt here in the Valley. I think it hit near Tahoe. But it wasn't really so much that I felt it but the light fixtures started swaying. Earthquakes are the strangest. The depth of the tremor can impact the damage caused and whether a building will survive it. Geology Hub has some great videos on earthquakes and volcanoes. At the end of his weekly updates, he lists all the erupting volcanoes around the world, which is usually around 40 or so.
@@BillGreenAZ I barely felt it because I was sitting on a wooden porch of a 100+year old house, but even then I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. But some time later, one hit towards Reno that made the light fixtures sway at the restaurant I was in. I know it was around the same time period. But yeah, the valley floor is kind of boring in terms of natural disasters.
PBS Terra came out with a video a couple years back investigating the counties that were the safest and likely the most resilient from climate change. They settled in on Lamoille county VT, which is just north of Montpelier. That year, the county suffered one of the worst flood events in recent New England history……
Yeah? Vermont is entirely mountains and valleys. There will be flooding in low lying areas. The fact flooding g happened doesn't describe the scope of said flooding or the damage done. Nowhere is safe from weather.
@@HarryDirtay I think their methodology was a bit flawed. the study looked at historic costs and anticipated changes in costs per capita from natural disasters and weather. If that study happened today, the top county would not be Lamoille. Especially with mountainous flash flooding being on everyone’s minds I think Kyle’s best guess of the safest county being somewhere in the lake states / rust belt is more accurate. Even with the winters and tornadoes
I lived most of my life living along the Wasatch Fault, there would be small scale earthquakes here and there, but I never felt them. It wasn't until I moved to Charleston, South Carolina that my home town in Utah was the epicenter of a 5.7 magnitude earthquake back in 2021. But it blows me away that the Charleston, SC area is just at risk for earthquakes as Salt Lake City is!
A couple of my own: Southeast Alaska, especially Juneau, is at extreme risk for landslides due to climate change. So much so that it's near impossible to get landslide insurance (interesting Jacobin article about it). Vermont is generally safe from natural disasters, but is easily susceptible to flooding due to heavy rain, which it's been doing in recent years. Not a typical "disaster," but probably falls under the umbrella. Lots of dirt roads and bridges due to the topography, they get washed out and that disrupts everything. Mostly forested state, so many slopes can get washed away.
I'd like you to discuss the danger of flooding while living in a valley surrounded by hills or mountains. Especially if in the valley there's a stream and/or a river.
I wish you had put cold and winter storms into consideration. I think that would remove your top picks from consideration. However you are correct flooding is generally the worst you want to be sure you are not living in a flood plain or near a river. My top pick for least likely to experience any major natural disasters would be Olympic Peninsula, WA. Runner up goes to Bristol VA/TN. Honorable mention to WV/SE Ohio. All three have mild climates. Rare heat waves. Rare deep cold snaps. Rare tornadoes. Rare hurricane/typhoons. Edit: even if you consider drought life is mostly normal in drought ridden SE Ohio this year.
I would say Dixie Alley is the worst area for tornadoes. The tornadoes get just as powerful, but the forests and areas of poverty in the region make tornadoes all the deadlier
I think the Memphis area is probably the worst inland for natural disasters... You have the New Madrid fault not far away, flooding risks from the Mississippi, and it's in Dixie Alley with tornadoes. Hurricanes can go that far north too (not as bad tho) if they hit right
I'll take my chances in the PNW. If Mount Baker, (or, Komo Kulshan as we call it) blows up, so be it. Even Mount St Helen gave plenty of warning... for days! Prefer that to the sound of a toranodo outside your home at night.
I take my chances here on the Central Oregon Coast. I'm above the tsunami zone. I think the earthquake risk warnings here are a complete joke. But even if you believe the warnings it's a once in a 300 year event. So I'll probably be dead long before it happens. Any tornados that could possibly form here would be to weak to worry about. And last but not least, no real wild fire risk. Because we only get lightning and thunder storms in winter time when it's cold and wet. Not great conditions for a wild fire to start. I have never lived anywhere where I feel safer.
Id also consider heat waves a Disaster, in Phoenix Arizona it gets up too 110+ Fahrenheit in peak summer that heat can definitely be lethal and can explode your electricity bill for AC
We are looking at the southwest. While rising temps are a concern, the low dew points make the heat more tolerable. The vast sunlight meshes well with cooling demand and thus solar should be effective at mitigating the worst times. Elevation can be a mitigator, but not so high you are in the forest. Water is also a concern but there is likely room to improve conservation (less grass and water intensive crops).
Something to know about large volcanic eruptions is that their ash plumes can rise into the stratosphere and maps showing their individual impacts over the course of history show outward extending ranges that look like circles, as the make their own weather patterns and rise above the level of ordinary influences controlling weather. So that ash accumulation have actually been found to extend upwind as well as downwind, due to the amount of force, extreme temperatures and their influences that they involve.
I highly recommend a book called "Strategic Relocation." It goes into great detail a lot of the stuff you brought up.
Mr Beat?! No way!
You and GeographyKing should do another collab
I got that 10 years ago things have changed since then
Yeah it says originally published 1998, unless there are new editions?
4 lithium, 4 pure quartz, 4 15 minute smart cities?
Michigan might be cold, but we usually don’t get severe tornadoes, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no mud slides, and not a ton of fires. In terms of natural disasters, we are pretty boring.
That's never a bad thing! I'd take the cold over Hurricanes and earthquakes!
Shhhh… don’t tell anyone
Your Governor and election fraud
Try Central Valley of California. After growing up in Florida and spending time in Texas, this is the most mundane place when it comes to weather. Down at the base of the Valley (cities along hwy 99) are not anywhere near the foothills or wildland areas that catch fire.
We don't get freezing temps but maybe skirt around the low 30's for a night or two. It only rains in the winter time, and it's usually just boring, dreary, cold rain. Very rarely will there be thunderstorms or lightning.
Since I'm not on PG&E for electricity, we don't have to deal with "blackouts due to extreme heat". And my county has also done a pretty decent job keeping our reservoir full enough to keep the water flowing. Some of the others, like the ones for the Bay Area can get drastically low during drought times. We also don't have to share our water with LA.
@@jaytaylor629 Not all parts of California are affected by earthquakes. The Central Valley rarely feels anything more than a rumble if one happens more on the interior rather than the San Andreas or towards the coast.
One natural disaster that often gets missed but is one that causes many deaths is heat waves. This would include huge swaths of the southern USA, desert southwest, central plains, Ohio valley, and southeast coastal plains.
I think you are somewhat mistaken. There have been more heat deaths in New York than Arizona.
We have ac, heat doesn’t kill people in the us like it does in India.
@@richdobbs6595 you are the one mistaken. for heat related deaths Nevada and Arizona had the highest rates of death per million residents, at 36.6 and 71.9, respectively
Not true. Watch the documentary Cooked. Heat waves are a silent killer every where
Heat kills more than cold. This surprised me.
I would much rather deal with a blizzard than a hurricane, or most other types of disasters. I have lived through many blizzards and ice storms. My house was heated with a wood stove. So if the power went out, we still had heat, we could keep our perishable food cold by putting it outside, and we could cook food on the wood stove. If needed, we could melt snow for sanitation needs, such as washing dishes or bathing. We could read or play games by candlelight for entertainment.
Ive lived through both countless times. I prefer a hurricane personally.
@@menwithven8114cap. If you life where blizzards happen then it becomes a non issue because the city will mitigate it. You cant control a hurricane
@@menwithven8114really? Why? In the vast majority of blizzards you can just stay inside and wait them out. Hurricanes are typically much more deadly and the costs are way higher. Flooding is the most expensive natural disaster. I would be a lot more worried about property damage in a hurricane.
@@mrburns805 If your not in a flood zone, hurricanes aren't that bad. Just board up your window and you should be fine. I've been in 2 hurricanes but never got flooded.
@@mrburns805really depends on the strength of the hurricane and if you are in a flood plain or not, if you’re not at risk of flooding and the hurricane isn’t strong you can ride them out as long as you know that power may be out for a couple hours to a day, there is a reason many people in Florida not near the coast don’t evacuate until there is a major hurricane especially as buildings here can handle way more wind than Cat 1, even Cat 2, or even Cat 3. Though I would probably rather a Blizzard than a Cat 4 and especially Cat 5 or if I lived near the coast.
A lot of us probably thought western North Carolina would be safe from natural disasters, especially hurricanes. I did anyway. I didn't take into account the rivers that funnel water into the area. It's awful to see what has been done to such a beautiful area. And awesome Asheville NC, one of my favorite places, has a lot of recovering to do.
Thanks Kyle. Another great video.
Honestly Im with you on that. I've been living in Florida most of my life and dealt with hurricanes. I didn't consider the flooding we would get too much either. Some spots have gotten 14+ inches of rain from the storm and several inches from prior to Milton. A lot of our lakes and rivers are going up. Though I think it's quite disgraceful that the news didn't focus on the size and how much water Helene was able to carry and dropped on y'all well prior to landfall. Instead of focusing on the landfall.
@@mattwhaley1865 That is a good point. Big hurricanes have brought massive amounts of rainfall to places on the East Coast but people would rather forget about it and not plan for future events. I lived in Newport News, Virginia in 1979 or so when a hurricane dumped so much rain that we has a few feet of flood water in our neighborhood near Rt. 64 and Harpersville Road. It was very extreme but everybody seemed to forget about it quickly and just not talk about it again.
Natural events.
@mattwhaley1865 yup no reason to live there
Yes, this only discussed the problems of water flooding in low-lying areas, and not the problems of flash flooding, debris flows, and landslides in mountainous areas that can have heavy rain from a hurricane remnant like Helene hitting western North Carolina. Those hazards are found in places with higher topography and slopes, including California. Some of those desert areas that he mentioned as not having large floods can have localized flash flooding in the canyons of the more mountainous areas.
left side gets earthquakes and fire, middle gets tornados, right side gets hurricanes, upside you become popsickle
Nobody talks about the tornadoes in Florida. They are just as bad.
Just wear more layers and wear a thermal base layer. It's not hard. You'll be sweating in sub0 weather.
Source: I'm from MI.
Yeah now that i think about it it’s basically just a bomb pop flipped on its skde, west being the red as it’s got plenty of fire, but also cherry flavored, the middle would be all the stormy and cloudy type stuff, which fits the white part of that popcicle, and the east is the blue raspberry, it’s colder in the north and
gets lots of water related disasters on the coasts and rivers, hence why it’s blue.
It'd be nice to see a map that overlays all of the natural disasters. With overlap shading, the most to least impacted areas can be easily visualized.
It's easy to find. Image search: us natural disaster map. There are lots of good ones. 👍
Literally just Google it, boomer.
@@bobgardin2347 nope not needed
Reported @@TheDoomWizard
😂 boomer is not a slur
The deadliest fire in U.S. history was the Peshtigo Wi fire, some of that had to do with poor logging practices though leaving huge brush piles sitting around etc. The same day was the Chicago fire which took all the media attention at the time.
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan also had widespread fires the same day.
The second and third deadliest fires were in northern Minnesota-also due to logging practices. I still need to read up on Peshtigo.
@@theresemalmberg955 Yes! Way more widespread than Peshtigo. Even the Thumb burned.
This is a picky little thing that I thank you A WHOLE LOT for getting right. I've seen a bunch of natural disaster videos in the last several months, and nobody - until now - has pronounced "New Madrid" fault correctly. That drives me nuts. I was on the 6th (top) floor of a small office building far north of the epicenter of the 1968 New Madrid earthquake. We felt it. Not severely, but the building shook. I learned in the days after how to pronounce "New MAD-rid," and have never forgotten.
Your Majesty, the King! I'm loving these new "event" based videos. You have done an excellent job diversifying your content and consistently bringing to your viewers new and different ways to think about geography. It ain't just state capitols anymore! Thanks, Kyle! Long Live the King!!!!
Along the lines of this video, I'm currently living in Northeast Ohio (still own my place in NYC, but work sends me all over creation!), and I have to say that other than the very infrequent tornadoes, it seems relatively free from meteorological and geological mayhem. Even snowfall has been infrequent. I've been on the assignment since 2022, and in the two winters I've been here, we had two significant snow storms, and in both instances, the snow turned to slush within 48 hours. All said and done, the Cleveland-Akron area is pretty risk free.
You missed a couple. One which we worry about most of all on the west coast: Tsunami. Like volcanoes it's very infrequent but could have the potential to kill millions of people and wipe out exposed cities. I think it is more of a worry than earthquakes here in Victoria BC even though we are an earthquake hot spot. West coast, Alaska and Hawaii are all vulnerable to tsunami. I am oceanfront about 15 feet above sea level. I should also mention landslides and lahar, which have wiped out entire towns in the West of the continent.
There is a Tsunami 🌊 threat to the east coast, via a volcano 🌋 or mountain in the Canary Islands, with an “unstable” side, that “experts” say, if it “detaches,” falling into the ocean, 🌊 , predicting a big tsunami 🌊 for 🇺🇸, east coast. This Tsunami 🌊 could affect other places, as well, but I paid most attention to the report about this tsunami coming to the east coast 🇺🇸.
A threat for sure, but not near as much of a recurring issue as other natural disasters
Lahars are a major hazard from volcanoes, but he did cover several of the volcano hazards. The risk of lahars from Mt. Rainier are significant but limited to the area within about 20-30 miles of the volcano.
Yes, tsunamis are a high-impact risk for the Pacific Northwest, extending down into Northern California, due to the Cascadia Megathrust. He mentioned the magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Alaska (1964) that caused a huge tsunami in Alaska and hit Hawaii, but we have plenty of evidence that there was a magnitude about 9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia Megathrust in January 1700 that caused a large tsunami that caused widespread damage in the PNW and reached Japan.
I live in the Canadian province of Manitoba which is safe from most natural disasters. Sure there are occasional blizzards and flooding every now and then but I would take those over hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, tsunamis or volcanoes any day.
8:42 just bought our first house in Fort Worth, TX last summer, and one of the major factors that led us to buy this one is it already had an above ground tornado shelter installed in the garage. We haven’t gotten A TON of tornadoes recently, but it’s great to know if we do, my family and pets will be safe
TRUCKERS PASSING THROUGH DALLAS VIA US75 STARING AT THE LARGE SKYSCRAPERS EN ROUTE TO RANCHO CUCAMONGA
Just went through Helene's wrath in Western NC. I live right beside a creek. After that experience, I really don't ever want to live beside any body of water again. You are absolutely right about the power and dangers of water. I spent 30 years in FL dealing with hurricanes, but Helene gave me a whole new perspective.
Similar experience here, after being flooded by Hurricane Ian I was cured of my desire to ever live on water again.
@@MikeNaples I absolutely get that.
Im from Elizabethton/Johnson city. I hope you and your family was safe.
@chrisbeach423 Thank you. We're safe. I hope your family in TN is all safe too.
The pacific northwest, especially oregon, has become super screwed over with wildfires recently. It seems every year oregon has the biggest in the country. I'd like california to take that title back.
I’ve always liked the idea of Oregon, but the thought of the earthquakes and tsunamis terrifies me. Granted I live in FL with hurricanes, but at least we usually have days to prepare.
I have not heard too much about wildfires in Oregon. Usually more CA. Are they more out east like near the cascades, or the valleys and coast? Interesting.
@@476233 tsunamis aren't a threat for most people in Oregon. Most of oregon's population is on the I-5 corridor which is between the coastal mountains and cascade mountains. Portland is not on the coast, it's several hours inland. Portland is at the foot of the cascades and the entire west side of the state is incredibly dense rainforest. Wildfires can happen any where. It's not unusual to be blanketed in smoke for a few weeks in the summer. Some years like 2020 got REALLY bad. Google 2020 oregon wildfires if you want to see how bad it can get. They're definitely the most common threat to us. A big earthquake could not happen in our lifetimes.
Wildfires smoke is a much wider hazard, in Idaho there were several years where the were no fires locally but the air quality from PNW fires could be really bad.
PNW wasn't the only area affected by wildfires this year but The Southwest as well. I live in Southern NV with my 2 kids. CA had a lot of wildfires this past summer.
NV had 2 or 3. AZ had quite a few. The Southwest has been in a megadrought for 24 years. Every year the wildfires are getting worse in Western Canada, PNW, The West Coast & The Southwest.
Texas 2024
over 1 million acres burned along with 500 homes/ranches and cattle.
Obviously your ignorant children and should stick to playing video games.
I like your diverse of the facts. Thorough and not sensationistic.
Great video and very informative. I guess the key is that nowhere is immune to natural disasters, but certain areas are certainly less prone.
The areas you concluded were safest are very high risk for a person dying of cold temperatures. These are certainly weather related deaths. I believe if you include deaths from hot and cold weather along with the conditions you surveyed, You’ll find the safest part of the country is New Mexico.
Thank you to the UA-cam algorithm for putting this video in my feed. This was a great video. Well done!
Another great presentation, Kyle.
I've experienced hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires and drought, which contributes to wildfires, firsthand over the past 60 years. I've had my share of Nature's worst. Weather born disasters can be easy to avoid, in a general sense, but they can really mess up your life if you choose not to respect them. I've lived on Florida's gulf coast for 3 years and have come to loathe hurricanes in that short time. My current plan is to get the hell out of this state as soon as financially possible.
I always enjoy your videos! Good work.
thank you!
Columbia, SC, reporting in. You forgot about fire ants. I always enjoy your videos, Kyle.
Is Columbia a good place to live? Also how common are these fire ants?!
Nope noone cares
@@theflyingkahoon1099not really. i'd rather be in greenville-startanburg than columbia any day. bad mix of pricey and unrefined
Hate those awful fire ants in Florida
After being inundated with crazy ants for 5 years, I seeded the property with fire ants. Now when I get bit, I am thankful.
Eye-opening to see how vulnerable some areas are-natural disasters can change lives in an instant. Stay prepared!
Im in the Michigan UP my neighbor is a Snow Bird he comes home for 2-3 months then head's back to a trailer in Florida just a few miles NE of Tampa? I know that the last Hurricane had to make him rethink his choice to stay in a warmer area. I'll take the Snow and Cold over Florida anyday I lived and worked in Florida for a decade. Got tired of the Sudden Torrential rain/thunderstorms Bugs ' . mosquitoes and love bugs and Fire ants !! are the worst!" Just a few deer, foxes and an occasional Elk travels through my yard. Yes i live in a small city not many know about. We have lots of wildlife like Alaska has in its towns.
Great information and fantastic channel. Thank you! 💖
When I was a child back in the 80s, I was reading through my dad's encyclopedias and ran across a section regarding natural disasters. Included was a series of maps of the US showing where each disaster tended to occur. I deduced from flipping through the maps that Salt Lake City was the best place to live if I wanted to be safe from Mother Nature. Now I'm in my 40s and have never even been to SLC, although I have been to southern Utah and was unimpressed. I think I'll stay living in Tornado Alley.
I am 70 and have lived in the SLC area all my life. I have felt 3 minor-ish earthquakes (swaying motion and swinging lamps). Also there was a freaky tornado that hit downtown on Aug 11, 1999 right between two high rise buildings, with 1 death and 81 injuries. So, perhaps you can be extra happy with your decision to stay where you are! Best wishes.
Wonderful video with great research as always, my sire! I appreciate that you take the time to grasp a holistic understanding of the central topics you cover. This subject is becoming more salient every passing year with the continual worsening of natural disasters.
My brother lives in Asheville and has seen an incredible amount of destruction in WNC from the hurricane Helene flooding. Asheville is supposed to be too far away to be so affected by a hurricane, but the bigger they are, the farther they go.
Great video! Hopefully it gains a lot of traction and makes its way to your most viewed list!
Feed the UA-cam algorithm with a comment. Great video. Thank you!
I always enjoy your videos. You make what could be dull fun and informative.
Thank you!
South Dakota here, we gets derechos too (super high winds not associated with a tornado). But I still love it here. Less mosquitos than the old Wisconsin and not nearly as much ticks. I have had three tick diseases, eatch out for ticks in Wisconsin!
we've gotten derechos in Michigan. The one with 120 mph winds in July 1980 was a doozy!
I did not know about the ticks in Wisconsin
Eastern Ohio tends to be pretty safe. Worst we've had have been a few floods, blizzards and ice storms, an occasional tornado (not nearly as many as the flatter western half) and the weak tail end of a hurricane. Compared to most, we got it pretty good here.
Thank you for this video! It was well presented and very comprehensive. You are also very knowledgeable and did not over sensationalize the information ... a refreshing change from all the other disaster scenario videos out there! You did an excellent job providing relevant and understandable material. 🙂👍
Nice catch that Dubuque is well above the Mississippi River and most people live on the bluffs and hills. People accept risk on where they live. Asheville was beautiful and relatively low population so few anticipated landslides galore that plugged up the culvert and bridge crossings exasperating flooding, nor how hard the recovery will be because most roads run along the rivers and streams. Throw in the human hazard of preppers freaking out about FEMA coming to take their lithium deposits and you got a real mess. Good video!
Everywhere with a mountain can have landslides.
This is true on a smaller scale with the house that my husband & I own; it’s only 1/4 mile from the Shunganunga Creek that runs through Topeka, Kansas, but it’s uphill from it.
Thank you!❤
Stopping a wildfire is not only dangerous and unpredictable, but also undesirable. Forests evolved under a fire regiment and depriving them of that causes all sorts of things to go out of whack there. Instead, you have to understand that if you elect to live in the forest, someday, sooner or later, fire _will_ come knocking on your door, if the forest ecosystem is to remain healthy.
I'm a wildland firefighter, you're not wrong but there is more nuance to wildfires than that. Climate change has made fires burn bigger and hotter than nature intended, and they're mostly human started. I would say we contain fires rather than stop them. If a fire isn't severe and isn't threatening structures we will often let it run its course. But people live everywhere now, and a city or town takes priority. Controlled burns are carried out to prevent worse fires and improve the health of forests.
@@elishahahn3064 Right, then it gets so dry in some places; the climate has changes so much that the forest instead grows back as arid shrublands.
I'll stay in the desert for now.
Watch out for flash floods. 👍
I live in the desert, (Say My Name!), there is drought, wildland fires (the real-life Smokey the Bear came from here), haboobs, severe freezes, a tornado or two every century, and during the wet season sometimes "inland hurricanes", very severe monsoon thunderstorms that rapidly fill the arroyos, rip the branches out of the cottonwoods, and cause civil damage. Plus, being surrounded by all those dormant volcanoes and hot springs is a little discomforting...
Dont be so certain, water crisis' for you guys
@@NoahOhannessian I actually live in probably the only major SW desert metro that has a surplus of potable water, mostly being due to being built on a giant sponge of a mesa (an "underground Lake Superior") and because we are extremely frugal with water usage. As a result, our aquifers continue to rise and droughts do not create "water crisis" here in a humanitarian sense, but rather in an ecological and economic sense.
Desert Monsoons and Haboobs
Thank you so much
Nor'Easters can affect those inland as well...not just the coastal areas.
I am also subscribed to the channel "American Resiliencey" and she's a climate specialist that goes over the latest climate data for each state. Basically, yep, she considers the region in the states around the Great Lakes to be the "life boat" for overall resiliency. MN, WI, MI...Oddly, much of PA (except around the city of Philadelphia) will be fairly good too.
I experienced multiple earthquakes living in the Seattle area. The 6.5 in 1965 and the 6.8 in 2001 were the biggest. I also watched Mt St Helens erupt twice in 1980. The August eruption looked dramatic, but it wasn't nearly as destructive as the initial May eruption. The number of small earthquakes in the Kent valley pre- and post-eruption were ridiculous. It was like being on a giant bowl of Jell-O. There was an F3 tornado in the valley in 1969 and a waterspout on Lake Washington in 2003. Now I live in southern New Mexico. No hurricanes, tornados, or earthquakes. The destructive force here is wildfires in the wooded mountain regions. Ruidoso was surrounded by fires this summer and then inundated by flooding from rains the soil couldn't absorb afterward. The alert I heard repeated on the radio multiple times was "Evacuate IMMEDIATELY!! GO NOW!!" Wow. I feel safe where I live in the Mesilla Valley. The Rio Grand River is dry most of the year and water is released from Caballo Lake only for irrigation. No flood hazard there. We do get gully washers during monsoon in parts of the valley but they don't cause massive damage. In fact, we've had less than 4" of rain so far this year, so we're more concerned about ongoing drought and crop irrigation. I'm still happy here after 13 years so I think I'll stay.
As someone who is lived in FL my whole life I'll take hurricanes over anything else. Hurricanes don't sneak up on you, there is plenty of time to evacuate. A well built home can withstand a lot of wind. We went thru the eyewall of Cat 2 Wilma and only lost a few trees. However if you are on the coast, a bay or a river then storm surge is a nightmare since there is nothing you can do to avoid it. My nightmare is earthquakes... I don't know how people put up with that possibility. Fires and flash floods are also impossible to deal with, so no thank you. Tornadoes are just completely random since they can wipe out one house yet leave another one untouched.
As always, well done sir! Love the content, keep it up🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Actually the four deadliest wildfires in US history happened in Wisconsin (Peshtigo), Minnesota (Cloquet and Hinckley) and Michigan (Thumb). Though they all happened in 19th century so maybe the conditions are different now.
Very interesting video anyway!
Such great historical record compendium maps! You could do a whole video on the best resources for finding historical incidence maps, such as these, as seen in this video! Truly great!
Thank you GK. This video also proves that KISS was way better when Ace was in the band.
One thing you should know about Florida. It has long sand ridges that stretch from north to south. I live on one north of Tampa. I am 72 feet above mean sea level. These sand ridges do not flood. Rain water just sinks into the sand. I am also twenty miles inland and this usually tames the wind. All of the new homes are cinder block and have low fully gabled roofs. Most of the damage you see are people who have insanely built on barrier islands.
My parents lived in Brooksville their last 23 years on earth. It is similar to where you live.
@@Chris_at_Home I live twenty miles north of Brooksville. in Citrus County. The two places are different. More people and traffic in Brooksville. Over the last fifty years congestion and development has spread north from Pinellas County.
Boring people ,flat,too hot and humid,huge insects,hurricanes....no reason to live there
As a Michigander, I spent most of my life thinking that I wanted to get out of the cold Michigan. Now nearing retirement, I find that with global worming and lack of natural disasters, Michigan is the ideal location. I am staying put and buying property for those who will be looking for a safe haven. Welcome to Michigan!!
Safe outside of Flint, and Detroit
@@ShermanMark1I left LA for northern Michigan in 2000. Certainly not trading one city for another… I’m in Charlevoix Cty.
I'm thinking Michigan is looking pretty good, I can deal and function better in cold than in heat. I'm in the North part of San Diego, very nice but sadly fast becoming overpopulated. Plus the taxes, with everything are horrible. Highest gasoline prices, food prices are out of control. Time to go elsewhere.
@@samiam619 Char'le-voy-IX. (hooked on phonics). Charlevoix is nice - Tunnel of Trees, here.
I live in Maine and for the most part we escape the worst kind of weather events. Sure it gets chilly and occasionally ice buildup on trees and power lines cause outages. But the last major event that occured was the ice storm of 1999 which was 25 years ago.
THe Midwest is one of the worst place for tick diseases though. I've had THREE of them. Not fun. Deet and a lot of clothing didn't stop me from getting bit those three times. The best thing you can do is if you're going into the woods or state park in late May to August is to check yourself thoroughly after and TAKE A THRROUGH SHOWER and wash the clothes you hiked in right away, they can't creathe water. Also check your shoes and jackets. The worst one that passes the most is the female deer tick, from which I got Babiosis and Anaplasmosis (worse than Lyme disease by the way, they eat your blood cells and lower your oxygen, and ability to fight infection). When you get a bug bite and are feeling something is not right, get tested for a tick disease even ask for a round of coxycycline. In my case, the doxycycline saved my life.
Guess I need to stay out of the midwest.
One of very few upsides to living in the UK is the total lack of natural disasters. It might flood now and again and we sometimes get 100mph+ gusts of wind, but no volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires or blizzards, or any severe heat or severe cold.
Having grown up there, I think you have discounted the killer mosquitoes of Minnesota.
I moved to Richmond, VA 3 years ago. I try to tell people that it is nearly a perfect place to live from a natural/geologic disasters stand point. No sizable earthquakes, stays wet enough for fires to not be a problem, no blizzards, no hurricanes, flooding isn't really a problem, tornados are rare, no volcanoes, no tsunamis. From a construction stand point, houses aren't really built with basements here for the most part nor on concrete slabs but rather with crawl spaces so even moderate flooding likely wouldn't even get in your house in the event water came in your yard Easily livin' for a mid-sized city.
2:06 Lake Charles, Louisiana! Capital One Tower, they just imploded it in September.
Kyle, I noticed your opening sound is different, and the picture is just slightly different. You also seem to have remodeled or moved your studio. Looks good! Also, another well done video!
Don't forget extreme heat. The CDC recorded 1,700 heat related deaths in 2023 -- and that number has been rising for a while.
I fail to understand why people just stay in the heat and die. How about finding some other place on the globe that is less hot?
I live in Northern Virginia which seems pretty safe from most natural disasters. Some hurricanes and tropical storms can happen in the late summer/early fall but they are not as bad typically as Florida. Hurricane Isabel from 2003 and that Derecho in the summer of 2012 are the most notable ones that come to mind from my experience.
tornadoes have hit D.C. a lot! Stick around, you'll see. [gov't pension? - just wondering]
Cascadia subduction zone will F the heck out of the PNW.
Thanks Kyle. I'm moving!
Awesome video!
Very good video. Thank u
Be sure to check dam locations too. And the county soil survey does a better job mapping floodplains and stream terraces than FEMA, IMHO. It will also address landslide soils too, at least in the printed books.
11:45 That is one way to look at it. Another way is that major earthquakes have happened and have now stabilized the tectonic plate for generations to come. If you are going to try to predict when a natural disaster will occur, you are going to lose.
I will say on the flooding bit, PA is also kinda infamous for being home to a lot of the Susquehanna, which gets very violent very quickly if it's allowed to flood over the levees that're in place in the Wyoming Valley
Lancaster County gets a lot of flash flooding here in the Susquehanna valley. Too many creeks and streams that flow into the bigger rivers like Conestoga, Susquehanna and Delaware. If those hurricane riders up the east coast get Philly, we get it inland here too. We're always watching.
Earthquakes on the east coast are felt WAY further away than on the west coast.
As someone who has lived in Southeast Florida my whole life, (28 years) I've only experienced two significant hurricanes. Wilma and Irma. However we've had way too many close calls to count. By far the scariest close call was Dorian. We dodged a category 5 sized bullet with that one. Unfortunately The Bahamas wasn't so lucky.
Rivers are meant to flood.
Yes, here in the SW, the floods fill the bosques with freshly ground-up Rockies and wipe out vegetation so that the cottonwoods can sprout with less competition. The cottonwoods carefully time their cottonseed release with the spring floods, and fish use the high flows as a cue to spawn.
I have lived in Florida almost fifty years and I CANNOT wait to get out of here.
WHY? I like it Dec - Mar.
@@mikezylstra7514why not just move to a region that doesn't really get hit by hurricanes like Jacksonville?
@@wesleygriffiths8496 Jacksonville is a crime pit. You'll get clobbered and robbed. Stay away!
@@wesleygriffiths8496 I am in Jacksonville.
@@mikezylstra7514 I hate Jun-Oct. I will retire somewhere cooler in a few years.
Of course the one time I’m not on UA-cam at night my two favorite UA-camrs upload. I’m waking up to Christmas rn
You didn't mention the Juan de Fuca plate in the PNW that's overdue for a big one. It's capable of 9.0+ and last shook at that intensity in January of 1700.
I live along the Red River of the North, so obviously flooding is the main concern. We're finally building a diversion on the river like Winnipeg did in the 1960s (which has paid for itself many times now by mitigating catastrophic floods), so hopefully we'll be safe and insurable for several decades.
I’m in Vegas where we just watch the weather on the news. It’s hot but that’s it.
idk where you got 2 Cat 5 landfalls in the US since 2000... there's been only 4 in recorded history, 1935 Labor Day, 69 Camille, 92 Andrew, and 2018 Michael
He probably miss assumed Katrina to be a 5 at landfall
He could be referring to Hurricane Dorian from 2019. The Bahamas aren't part of the US, but they are right next to Florida.
Might be referring to Ian. It wasn't a Cat 5 at landfall and only got that category retroactively, but it was really close.
Michael in 2018 and the 2nd was Maria in 2017 that made landfall in Puerto Rico. It was a Category 5 when it hit Dominica, but it weakened to a Category 4 a few hours before landfall in PR, so I was mistaken that it was a Cat 5 landfall for the US.
West Virginia is pretty safe. The mountains dissuade most wind events, and we're moist so the fire risk is moderate. Just don't live in the bottom of the hollows or next to the rivers.
Yeah, but your police...
@@breakingboardrooms1778 I live in the boonies. All we have are State Boys and they're scarce - keep the speed to the limit plus 9 MPHs and you'll never interact with one.
I live in the eastern Sierra region of California. We deal with a fair amount of snow, my driveway gets 17 feet in an average year. However, averages are the mathematical result of a set of extremes! We get drought and then we got 220% of average snowfall in 2022-2023. We have a ton of extinct volcanoes and I live in the Long Valley Caldera, which erupted 760,000 years ago. Similar to Yellowstone, which has a caldera and erupted with greater force and effect. The caldera and the Sierra still rising 1.25" per century results in a lot of small earthquakes. There are dozens per day that can't be felt at all. We also have a wildfire hazard. We are retired and can't afford to move. I can't think of a place that has all the wonderful features we have here and is "safe" from natural disasters.
There is another similar Caldera in NM, the Valles Caldera, which is itself inside an even larger, older one. Just outside of the rim is the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the city of Los Alamos, NM.
@@Kehk-in-a-MiG I lived in New Mexico for nearly 4 years in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I've taken trips to that area. The natural setting of New Mexico is incredible.
From Duluth MN, I love the hills, the lake, hiking, beaches, having distinct seasons, and big city Minneapolis/Stpaul not far away is a big plus. Its great up here. Perfect I might dare say! No natural disasters here other than occasional winter storm accompanied by gale winds. Amazing to see lake superior produce 15 foot waves lol
Too boring
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN Not in the slightest
Forest fires are the main danger up there.
Could you do a video on the west coast and the potential of a tsunami? That would be very interesting
Best thing about living in coastal VA is there’s hardly any major storms and hurricanes. Best thing. Everything else sucks.
I’ve lived in CA (earthquakes, smoke from wild fires) TX and FL (hurricanes and flash flooding) and Great Lakes (blizzards). Blizzards are the easiest to deal with because I always had advanced notice. Flash flooding was the hardest (not enough notice).
8:01, the tornado map from 1950-2021 seems to show a hole in tornado/dixie alley. Is this due to upstream terrain of the Ozark Plateau??
I swear here in south carolina back in the 80s and 90s we use to have some horrible thunderstorms all summer. And frequent ice storms. Belive it or not I feel the weather isn't as extreme as it was
It's getting weaker weaker as time goes by atleast in some places.
The earthquake that happened after the Ridgecrest a few years ago was the only one that I felt here in the Valley. I think it hit near Tahoe. But it wasn't really so much that I felt it but the light fixtures started swaying. Earthquakes are the strangest. The depth of the tremor can impact the damage caused and whether a building will survive it.
Geology Hub has some great videos on earthquakes and volcanoes. At the end of his weekly updates, he lists all the erupting volcanoes around the world, which is usually around 40 or so.
The large Ridgecrest earthquake of 2019 hit directly in the Ridgecrest/China Lake area. I believe it was a 6.4.
@@BillGreenAZ I barely felt it because I was sitting on a wooden porch of a 100+year old house, but even then I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. But some time later, one hit towards Reno that made the light fixtures sway at the restaurant I was in. I know it was around the same time period. But yeah, the valley floor is kind of boring in terms of natural disasters.
@@SandrA-hr5zkNear Stockton, CA, and the last earthquake I felt, I was sitting on the toilet on the second floor. Homemade earthquake sensor
@@BillGreenAZSouthern NV felt the aftershocks. Even Vegas had them so did the part of Southern NV that I live in.
PBS Terra came out with a video a couple years back investigating the counties that were the safest and likely the most resilient from climate change. They settled in on Lamoille county VT, which is just north of Montpelier. That year, the county suffered one of the worst flood events in recent New England history……
PBS is full of crap as always
Yeah? Vermont is entirely mountains and valleys. There will be flooding in low lying areas. The fact flooding g happened doesn't describe the scope of said flooding or the damage done. Nowhere is safe from weather.
@@HarryDirtay I think their methodology was a bit flawed. the study looked at historic costs and anticipated changes in costs per capita from natural disasters and weather. If that study happened today, the top county would not be Lamoille. Especially with mountainous flash flooding being on everyone’s minds
I think Kyle’s best guess of the safest county being somewhere in the lake states / rust belt is more accurate. Even with the winters and tornadoes
I lived most of my life living along the Wasatch Fault, there would be small scale earthquakes here and there, but I never felt them. It wasn't until I moved to Charleston, South Carolina that my home town in Utah was the epicenter of a 5.7 magnitude earthquake back in 2021. But it blows me away that the Charleston, SC area is just at risk for earthquakes as Salt Lake City is!
A couple of my own:
Southeast Alaska, especially Juneau, is at extreme risk for landslides due to climate change. So much so that it's near impossible to get landslide insurance (interesting Jacobin article about it).
Vermont is generally safe from natural disasters, but is easily susceptible to flooding due to heavy rain, which it's been doing in recent years. Not a typical "disaster," but probably falls under the umbrella. Lots of dirt roads and bridges due to the topography, they get washed out and that disrupts everything. Mostly forested state, so many slopes can get washed away.
I'd like you to discuss the danger of flooding while living in a valley surrounded by hills or mountains. Especially if in the valley there's a stream and/or a river.
I wish you had put cold and winter storms into consideration. I think that would remove your top picks from consideration. However you are correct flooding is generally the worst you want to be sure you are not living in a flood plain or near a river.
My top pick for least likely to experience any major natural disasters would be Olympic Peninsula, WA. Runner up goes to Bristol VA/TN. Honorable mention to WV/SE Ohio. All three have mild climates. Rare heat waves. Rare deep cold snaps. Rare tornadoes. Rare hurricane/typhoons. Edit: even if you consider drought life is mostly normal in drought ridden SE Ohio this year.
I would say Dixie Alley is the worst area for tornadoes. The tornadoes get just as powerful, but the forests and areas of poverty in the region make tornadoes all the deadlier
What about eastern Montana & eastern Wyoming? Those seem pretty safe too.
true the only danger is you might die of boredom 😂
Tornados and most of Wyoming is at risk of earthquakes. Though the risk for both is low.
Isn't the super volcano on Wyoming?
94 acres for sale in Vermont in the mountains.
I think the Memphis area is probably the worst inland for natural disasters... You have the New Madrid fault not far away, flooding risks from the Mississippi, and it's in Dixie Alley with tornadoes. Hurricanes can go that far north too (not as bad tho) if they hit right
I'll take my chances in the PNW. If Mount Baker, (or, Komo Kulshan as we call it) blows up, so be it. Even Mount St Helen gave plenty of warning... for days!
Prefer that to the sound of a toranodo outside your home at night.
Here Toto
I take my chances here on the Central Oregon Coast. I'm above the tsunami zone. I think the earthquake risk warnings here are a complete joke. But even if you believe the warnings it's a once in a 300 year event. So I'll probably be dead long before it happens. Any tornados that could possibly form here would be to weak to worry about. And last but not least, no real wild fire risk. Because we only get lightning and thunder storms in winter time when it's cold and wet. Not great conditions for a wild fire to start. I have never lived anywhere where I feel safer.
Id also consider heat waves a Disaster, in Phoenix Arizona it gets up too 110+ Fahrenheit in peak summer that heat can definitely be lethal and can explode your electricity bill for AC
Thanks again John in Chicago
Good information. Thank you.
We are looking at the southwest. While rising temps are a concern, the low dew points make the heat more tolerable. The vast sunlight meshes well with cooling demand and thus solar should be effective at mitigating the worst times. Elevation can be a mitigator, but not so high you are in the forest. Water is also a concern but there is likely room to improve conservation (less grass and water intensive crops).
Great video
Something to know about large volcanic eruptions is that their ash plumes can rise into the stratosphere and maps showing their individual impacts over the course of history show outward extending ranges that look like circles, as the make their own weather patterns and rise above the level of ordinary influences controlling weather. So that ash accumulation have actually been found to extend upwind as well as downwind, due to the amount of force, extreme temperatures and their influences that they involve.
I think California is having much more natural disasters the last two years have had the worst rainstorms and I have lived here my whole life
The Fires 🔥