According to an analysis published in the New York Times on a U.S. city’s likelihood of being hit by a natural disaster, the city of Corvallis was ranked safest in the nation.
This analysis determined, of the 379 U.S. cities reviewed, which had the lowest and highest risk for being affected by disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, drought and hail.
Following Corvallis, Mt. Vernon-Anacortes, Wash. is in the number two spot and Bellingham, Wash. is ranked third. The next highest ranked Oregon city is Salem, as the seventh safest in the nation.
The West Coast has been known to be more vulnerable to earthquakes, as opposed to the Midwest, which suffers from tornadoes, or the East Coast, which withstands hurricanes every year.
While the honor may make some breathe a sigh of relief, one expert believes the analysis may have been too lenient in there assessment of threats from Mother Nature.
“In my view, the New York Times downplayed the threat from earthquakes,” said Robert Yeats, professor of geology in the geosciences department at Oregon State University. “Seattle got high marks even though there is a proven active fault running through downtown Seattle that had a large earthquake less than 1,000 years ago, accompanied by a tsunami that struck the Magnolia Heights area.”
According to the data posted from the New York Times, “Risks for twisters and hurricanes are based on historical data showing where storms occurred, (and) earthquake risks are based on United States Geological Survey assessments and take into account the relative infrequency of quakes, compared with weather events and floods.”
This research was conducted following events such as the disastrous storms in the South and the deadly earthquake in Japan, which reportedly killed more than 18,000 people with nearly 12,000 still determined missing.
Yeats said Corvallis was not the only city included in the survey that may have been incorrectly ranked for safety.
“In addition, suburbs Kent and Auburn have volcanic hazard from mudflows from Mt. Ranier, the most recent occurring 500 years ago,” said Yeats. “The survey also gave high marks to Bellingham, Mt. Vernon and Salem, all at similar risk from quakes, when in fact Salem was damaged by an earthquake in 1993.”
On the New York Times website, the data results are displayed on a map of the United States, with green dots representing cities with lower risk of hazards, and red dots indicating the cities with the highest risk.
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, was ranked the most dangerous city to live in the United States, followed by Jonesboro, Ark., Corpus Christi, Texas, and Houston, Texas. Texas rounded out with five cities in the top eight most dangerous.
Yeats fears the high marks for safety may give community members a false sense of security, possibly hindering emergency preparedness.
“I regard the survey as irresponsible, hampering efforts of emergency managers to make this a safer place to live,” said Yeats.