Save The Wine! Avoiding Natural Disasters In The U.S.


tornadoIf you’re reading this, I’m already in California.

I’m enjoying a long Labor Day weekend in California’s wine country, and I’ve been looking forward to bottomless glasses of rosé since I booked the trip last month. So imagine my delight when I woke up on Sunday to news about the area’s biggest earthquake in 25 years. Economic losses in the Napa Valley region are estimated to be in the billions!

What’s more, there’s a 54 percent chance that there will be a strong aftershock of magnitude 5 or greater during the week after the quake. For those of you paying attention, that means that there’s a likely chance that I’ll experience my first earthquake during my vacation. Unintentional bucket list item, check!

One of my smart clients suggested I look at safety precaution suggestions about sleeping conditions during earthquakes (no Murphy beds!), and I will definitely be sharing those with my group.

For those of you that might be a tad on the paranoid side, make sure you’re prepared for your next vacation with my handy-dandy (and 95 percent accurate) list of what natural disasters are most likely to occur in each state:

  • Alabama: Hurricanes. And tornadoes.
  • Alaska: Earthquakes.
  • Arizona: Wildfires.
  • Arkansas: Wildfires.
  • California: Earthquakes. And wildfires.
  • Colorado: Avalanches.
  • Connecticut: Lightning strikes.
  • Delaware: Tornadoes. And lightning strikes.
  • Florida: Hurricanes. And tornadoes.
  • Georgia: Flooding. And wildfires.
  • Hawaii: Earthquakes. And sharks.
  • Idaho: Earthquakes.
  • Illinois: Tornadoes. And heat waves.
  • Indiana: Tornadoes.
  • Iowa: Tornadoes.
  • Kansas: Tornadoes.
  • Kentucky: Flooding.
  • Louisiana: Hurricanes. And tornadoes.
  • Maine: Flooding.
  • Maryland: Lightning strikes.
  • Massachusetts: Lightning strikes. #1 in the country.
  • Michigan: Blizzards.
  • Minnesota: Blizzards.
  • Mississippi: Hurricanes. And tornadoes.
  • Missouri: Floods.
  • Montana: Earthquakes.
  • Nebraska: Flooding.
  • Nevada: Earthquakes.
  • New Hampshire: Volcanoes.
  • New Jersey: Lightning strikes.
  • New Mexico: Earthquakes. And wildfires.
  • New York: Hurricanes. And high hotel prices.
  • North Carolina: Hurricanes.
  • North Dakota: Blizzards. And flooding.
  • Ohio: Lightning strikes.
  • Oklahoma: Tornadoes.
  • Oregon: Earthquakes. Landslides.
  • Pennsylvania: Flooding. And heat waves.
  • Rhode Island: Lightning strikes.
  • South Carolina: Hurricanes.
  • South Dakota: Blizzards.
  • Tennessee: Wildfires.
  • Texas: Hurricanes. And wildfires.
  • Utah: Earthquakes.
  • Vermont: You’re probably totally safe.
  • Virginia: Flooding.
  • Washington: Earthquakes. And landslides.
  • West Virginia: Landslides.
  • Wisconsin: Blizzards.
  • Wyoming: Earthquakes.

Some of the sources used to pull this list together:

  • http://blog.estately.com/2014/07/the-united-states-of-fear-which-american-states-are-the-scariest/
  • http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_20264.html
  • http://www.firescience.org/worst-states-fire-danger/
  • http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/deadly-mudslide/which-states-are-prone-landslides-how-can-you-prepare-n60761
  • http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/top_states.php
  • http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_gist/2005/09/where_to_hide_from_mother_nature.html