AP: Experts: Disaster - Free Zones Hard to Find

[mcscajun]

Hurricane victims in Florida and along the Gulf Coast have to be asking themselves something survivors of tornadoes, blizzards and earthquakes also wonder: Is there any place you can go that is safe from natural disasters?

The West has earthquakes and wildfires. Move to the Midwest and you could find yourself in Tornado Alley. The Northeast? Blizzards, ice storms and heat waves.

Experts say trying to escape catastrophic weather is a little like trying to escape from, well, the weather. Short of building a new Biosphere, it is nearly impossible to completely avoid quakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards or heat waves.

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One relatively safe place seems to be Blanding, Utah (population 3,500). It is on a mesa, so there is no flooding. City Manager Chris Webb cannot remember an earthquake or a tornado or, for that matter, any sort of weather emergency. There is snow, but Webb says the high-desert city has moderate temperatures year round, so it cannot even maintain an ice rink.

Much more, including links to the maps referenced elsewhere in the article, at: http://tinyurl.com/c9q3n