Top 10 Safest Cities in America, Grand Junction Makes the List

Every time I hear about hurricanes on the Atlantic or Gulf Coast, or tornadoes and floods in the mid-west, earthquakes on the west coast,  or blizzards in the Northeast, I  feel thankful to be living in Grand Junction, Colorado. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that we don't have these occurrences here in Western Colorado. As it turns out, we really don't.

Eighty five percent of the country's population lives in 379 metro areas, and Sperling's Best Places has ranked  those area based upon the risk of damage from natural disasters. Grand Junction comes in at #5 on the list. According to Forbes, the ranking reflects the risk of tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, hail, and other weather events like extreme rain, snow, heat, and cold.

It never fails. We complain about how cold it is in the winter, and how hot and dry it is in the summer. We complain when the wind blows, and we complain when it snows. But, the fact is, we are extremely fortunate to be living in Western Colorado. We don't have to worry about hurricanes and tropical storms. Tornadoes are extremely rare. Blizzards and large amounts of snow are uncommon.

The next time we want to complain about the weather we should remember all of those people in Oklahoma who lost their homes to tornadoes and  those who have been displaced by hurricanes such as Katrina, Ike,  and Andrew. We should remember the images of people sitting on top of their homes to escape rising flood waters, and those on the west coast who live with the constant threat of earthquake.

Here is the list of the top 10  metro areas with the lowest risk of damage from natural disasters.

1)Corvallis, Oregon
2)Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington
3)Bellingham, Washington
4)Wenatchee, Washington
5)Grand Junction, Colorado
6)Spokane, Washington
7)Salem, Oregon
8)Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington
9)Yakima, Washington
10)Olympia, Washington