Where to Live in the USA to Avoid Natural Disasters

Hurricanes in the east, earthquakes in the west and tornadoes in the middle. Where should you live to avoid natural disasters?
Matthew Ericson, Joe Burgess and Bill Marsh of The New York Times created this infographic guide to find the safest and most dangerous places to live in America:

The analysis below, by Sperling’s Best Places, a publisher of city rankings, is an attempt to assess a combination of those risks in 379 American metro areas. Risks for twisters and hurricanes (including storms from hurricane remnants) are based on historical data showing where storms occurred. 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. Additional hazards included in this analysis: flooding, drought, hail and other extreme weather.

So, where should you live? The metro areas with lowest risk:

1. Corvallis, Ore.
2. Mt. Vernon-Anacortes, Wash.
3. Bellingham, Wash.
4. Wenatchee, Wash.
5. Grand Junction, Colo.
6. Spokane, Wash.
7. Salem, Ore.
8. Seattle

The highest risk:

1. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Tex.
2. Jonesboro, Ark.
3. Corpus Christi, Tex.
4. Houston
5. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Tex.
6. Shreveport, La.
7. Austin, Tex.
8. Birmingham, Ala.

Our hearts go out to the tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri, and in Oklahoma, which happened just weeks after the deadly twisters that struck six southern states. It makes one wonders, what's up with all these tornadoes?

Weather experts were at a loss to explain the deadly flurry of tornadoes, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had found no link between the recent storms and climate change. Environmentalists disagree. Is global warming to blame?