Natural Disasters & Traffic

After we moved across the country, we became aware of the faults and volcanoes that share this corner of the country with us. It never occurred to us to check this out beforehand. 

Recently Joe came across a list of places prone to natural disasters. Turns out we’re in a pretty safe place. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett is ranked the 8th safest area in the country. Kirkland is within that triangle.

Here’s the list of the 10 safest places, in terms of natural disasters, to live in the United States. We were surprised at the number of Washington cities on the list. See the article here and check out your city. Source - Sperling's Best Places

1.  Corvallis, OR

2.  Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA

3.  Bellingham, WA

4.  Wenatchee, WA

5.  Grand Junction, CO

6.  Spokane, WA

7.  Salem, OR

8.  Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA

9.  Yakima, WA

10. Olympia, WA

If you’re curious about our volcanoes, click here for a list of the five active and potentially active volcanoes in Washington. This site talks about earthquakes in Washington.

TRAFFIC

Seattle is the 9th most congested city in the country. Joe found traffic statistics. here. 

Fortunately we don’t have to be on the freeways very often and when we are we can sometimes avoid rush hour. We rarely encounter traffic coming to a complete stop. It’s doable for us. 
photo - on Route 520 going west into Seattle