THIS Is the Safest Place to Live in the US as the Climate Changes

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We asked six experts where the safest, or least risky, places will be to live in the United States as the climate changes and weather becomes more extreme. And the answer is pretty surprising. In this episode, we look at many hazards from temperature, storms, drought, farming, wildfire, polar vortex, hurricanes, sea-level rise, crop failure, extreme heat, and even economics. We look at the effect of climate on future migration patterns in the US and talk to someone who left New York City after Hurricane Sandy and identifies as a climate migrant. She ended up moving to the safest county in the United States from a weather and climate perspective. We’ll reveal where she went and why.

Weathered is a show hosted by weather expert Maiya May and produced by Balance Media that helps explain the most common natural disasters, what causes them, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare.

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[conesnail]

People are more focused on running from their problems then solving them “safe” areas will quickly be populated and new problems will rise from that. Climate change needs to be confronted.

[HatedJared]

Been in Michigan most of my life. Bought a 10 acre farm that has a 1 acre pond, underground water, and is on a pretty large hill. I feel pretty safe from climate change out here. Our goal this year is to get stable food production from our land going.

[shellylofgren]

I’m closing in on my retirement and I’d like to move from Minnesota to a warmer climate, but the prices on homes are stupidly ridiculous and Mortgage prices has been skyrocketing on a roll(currently over 7%) do I just invest my spare cash into stock and wait for a housing crash or should I go ahead to buy a home anyways

[angelalewis]

I came across this video on July 12, 2023. My husband and I are trying to figure out where to retire. We are from the New England area but have lived in many states. Most recently Washington State and now in Texas. The irony is, just 2 days ago Lamoille County Vermont suffered from severe flooding causing historic rainfall to wash out roadways and bridges in the region. Over 7 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Really no place is free from severe weather events. 😢

[joeyotten]

I ran away from my home state of Wisconsin to escape the frigid winters…went to arizona….ten years later I came back home because I hated the heat…I just had the most mild winter of my life in Wisconsin, I don’t think it ever went below zero and i only had to shovel a few times…it was wonderful and scary as hell…it was not the winter I remember growing up and I worry about the changes to come and it makes me so profoundly sad

[MariaMartinez-researcher]

Amazing that the availability of drinking water wasn't mentioned. Even the scientist who spoke about the preferred temperature range by humans apparently didn't factor water availability in the study.
Add to that water availability for agriculture.
Aren't you thinking about that? Water doesn't come automatically from the faucet.

[nathanielsizemore]

My family moved out to Josephine County, Oregon in 2018, and we bought a 4-acre homestead with great plans. Then the summer drought/fire season rolled around. Our well dried up and we had to buy water to live on the land. Breathing, from the smoke of wildfires, was an issue for my wife and I. The summers of 2019 and 2020 proved that we could not live in the area of Oregon we had settled in. In the late winter/early spring of 2021, we moved to Illinois, less than a mile from Lake Michigan. The winter cold is hard on our arthritis, but survivable and we can breathe.

[cyclewisconsin]

Here it is a year later and Vermont has just had intense flooding, so much for a safe place from climate change.

[danielvisintainer]

Been in Michigan all my life, and wanted to leave for a bit but honestly the way this is going, I want to stay, or at least own land somewhere in the state. Not only are we last in natural disasters but being connected to four massive bodies of freshwater and is fourth in amount of inland lakes is a huge bonus.

[myklebustsears]

Moved to Vermont three+ years ago and I love it. No place is immune from climate change (we had many poor air quality days last summer from wildfires thousands of miles away, our winters are getting shorter, hurricanes can still reach us, etc.), but it's wonderful to live in a place with great natural beauty, abundant water, and a state government that takes climate change seriously.

[jenniferburns]

Having spent most of my life in southeastern Wisconsin, I can say that living near Lake Michigan is great for both recreation and fresh water access. Our winters are milder than they were 30 years ago, we don't have to worry about hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, or most other natural disasters, and if need be we can produce our own food. No place is perfect, but I can see the upper Midwest being an attractive destination for those fleeing extreme heat, wildfires, water shortages, and other issues forcing relocation.

[timgora]

For those who don’t know northern Maine does not have many people living there, it’s heavily forested and half the roads aren’t even paved.. so if you decide to move there keep in mind it could take several hours to days for someone to rescue you if something happens and if you get service. Also both nws radar systems can only go so far so you’re on your own in terms of weather the further north/west you go as well

[carolynlarke]

How did I not find you until today? I'm a native Floridian. I've got 65 years of environmental catastrophe behind me. Please, my generation treated people like me, people who read "Silent Spring" in school, like 'silly alarmists' our entire lives. It's all true. It's coming to every human on earth now. Thank you.

[billquigley]

I thought Vancouver would be a pretty good place to avoid extreme weather events because it's so temperate but we just had a record breaking heat dome followed by a huge atmospheric river that had record breaking rainfall and flooding. I truly think nowhere is safe and predicting where these extreme weather events are going to occur is impossible.

[chestermicek]

I've lived in Atlanta, GA for the last 45 years and the last two years have proven to be rainier than any of the proceeding 43 years. Additionally, there is more wind blowing inside the I-285-beltway. In response to the climate change, we've planted a dozen Japanese Maples in our west-facing, front yard & built a screened in porch which is now cooled by those trees. Our west-facing windows are also shaded by the same trees. We've also installed a full-house, stand-by generator, but that's not all we are doing. I'd go on, but it now seems like Atlanta might be the new hot zone & that changes everything.

[heresjohnny.]

I’m so heartbroken by the way we treat our planet.

[rluikaart]

If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. You may think you’re moving out of danger from one place, only to be confronted with some other thing in the new place. With all the stuff that could happen in a lifetime, I’m amazed and grateful that I’m still here.

[pkmcburroughs]

It's so comforting to see the discussion shift from "What will we do to stop climate change?" to "What extraordinary things will people do to survive the inevitable climate change disaster that will occur because we are doing absolutely nothing about it?"

[SteakNAleOrPonderosa]

I moved from Sacramento after 10 years in California to West Virginia, and absolutely did so as a climate migrant. Fires, drought, we even had a tornado my last year there (rare for that area, but less so). I'm a native Appalachian (PA), so the transition back to the mountains has been lovely - certainly less snowy than where I grew up. But other people I've met from CA have had a terrible time. Flooding is a big issue in the region, and even folks on high hills aren't immune (the soil here is "expansive", meaning it wrecks your foundation if you're not careful and you end up with flooded basements at high elevations). Culture shock can also be significant for the unprepared. WV is a beautiful place and I love living here, but it's not for the faint of heart.

[geod]

I'm from Southern CA and moved to lower Michigan to take care of family. When I moved, I was excited just for this reason, climate changed seemed to be actually improving this area. With that said - it is freaking scary COLD in the winter and SWEATY parts of summer. As I write this I would be much more comfortable living in Southern CA year round than here, despite the crappy summer. Here, in the winter if I get lockout of my house, I could actual die.

Point being, climate change is having an affect and it is happening faster each year. Just, please, don't move to Vermont (or Michigan etc) thinking it is all sunshine and rainbows there, it is more extreme weather than a SoCAl kid was prepared for. For me it is more dangerous to go outside here and requires more prep than it does in CA currently. Just saying.