According to FEMA, Palau is probably the safest place to live

[SoCalDem]

http://www.fema.gov/news/disaster_totals_annual.fema

Texas is #1 in disaster declarations

Florida is #4

How does your state measure up?

[XemaSab]

1. Isn't that fairly subject to sea level rise?

:shrug:

[Rhiannon12866]

2. Yikes! #5!!!

Where is Palau, anyway? It's got to have less snow than NY... x( :hi:

[SoCalDem]

3. Palau... It's pretty remote.. near the Philippines

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Thanks! It looks beautiful!

No snow, lots of trees... All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go... (Just have to find a pair of more comfortable shoes, LOL. ;) ) :D :hi:

[SoCalDem]

7. My son goes back to Singapore in a few weeks (on business)

and when he gets back, he & his wife are headed for Hawaii 4 days after he gets home from Singapore.. and in November they are going to Bali..

aaah to be young again.. (they have no kids, so they get to travel a lot)

[Rhiannon12866]

12. Sounds like he's having a great time!

I hope that he brings you some souveniers... ;)

I used to travel, even though I hate flying, but I haven't flown anywhere since before 9/11... :(

[Lasher]

8. Population 20,000

GDP = $164 million. US aid = $250 million.

Palau is divided into 16 states. 44 people live in the state of Hatohobei, where they have 3 official languages. If a governor were to serve there for one month at a time, everybody would get a turn every 3.6 years.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Watford suits me just fine

That's UK : not Dakota. :)

[Cirque du So-What]

6. According to the FEMA webpage, Utah has the fewest number of disaster declarations of any US state

but that's hardly my top criterion for selecting a place to live. For me, other factors outweigh the disasters ranking, so I won't be considering a move there any time soon. Like the joke goes, you won't live forever if you move there; it'll just seem that way.

That said, I'm happy that my newly-adopted state, PA, has fewer tornados and earthquakes than where I've lived previously. My decision to relocate was motivated primarily by economics, however, so the reduced frequency of natural disasters is merely just a nice side benefit.

[Lasher]

9. And considering the type of disaster, it might not apply to you.

Where I live here in West Virginia, Noah's ark would have to float by before flood water reached my house up on a hill. But high water is often a problem for my neighbors who live closer to the flood plain.

Within each state, there are some areas that are safer than others.

[woodsprite]

10. I'm happy with Delaware at #51. Think I'll stay! n/t

[Bitwit1234]

11. I don't think I could stand all the "ghosts" of that island

a very dear friend of mine, who has passed away, was a marine on that island. And the atrocious acts performed by the Japanese AND the US were horrific. I could not stand all that bloodshed. I hear it was the bloodiest battles in the war fought there.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Reminds me of a Carl Sandburg poem... ;(

GRASS

by: Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

[old mark]

14. Here in PA (#21) we are "the South of the North" and we have winter AND summer disasters-

snow storms and blizzards, rainstorms and flooding and mudslides, tropical storms and tornados and the ends of the hurricaines that hit Florida. We have a neat feature called the Nor'Easter and even minor earthquakes on occasion.
We also have really bad roads because they are subject not only to freezing, icy cold, but terrible humid heat in the summer.

Come and visit us while we are still here...half of my family lives in far away states (TX and MA) and one of the young nephews is moving right now....to Peru!


mark

[slackmaster]

15. California is very large and geographically diverse. #2 doesn't bother me at all.

Most of our disasters here are perfectly predictable, and preparing for them is pretty straightforward.

I just think of my existence as potentially turning into a camping trip when the next big earthquake hits. If I can get my shit together to go for an overnight stay in the desert, as I did this week, I'll be fine.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. 29th. Floods and winter storms mostly.

An earthquake or two. Some fires.

It beats having tornados every year.

[Old Troop]

17. Probably is the safest place if you avoid the odd unexploded WW2

artillery shell.