The Safest US Cities Against Mother Nature's Wrath

Good news, Virginia: You're one of the safest places in the US when it comes to natural disasters. At least some of the Old Dominion's cities are, anyway, according to a new assessment by Home Gnome. The home services site wanted to see which US cities were safest (or best prepped) when it comes to Mother Nature wreaking havoc, so it looked at nearly 500 cities across the nation, using metrics in five distinct categories: hazards risk, vulnerable populations, vulnerable infrastructure, evacuation transport, and response and recovery. The Virginia city of Lynchburg was found to be the best of the bunch in terms of natural-disaster safety and preparedness; the state boasts three other cities in the top 10 "safest" cities. Meanwhile, it's little surprise that earthquake- and wildfire-prone California claims five of the 10 most at-risk cities. Check out both lists:

Safest cities

1. Lynchburg, Virginia
2. Roanoke, Virginia
3. Auburn, Alabama
4. Alexandria, Virginia
5. Macon, Georgia (No. 1 in "Hazards Risk" category)
6. Bloomington, Indiana
7. Richmond, Virginia
8. Pittsburgh
9. Rochester, Minnesota
10. Round Rock, Texas

Least-safe cities

468. Cicero, Illinois
469. Deerfield Beach, Florida
470. Largo, Florida (last in "Vulnerable Infrastructure" category)
471. Carson, California
472. El Monte, California
473. Pharr, Texas (last in "Vulnerable Populations" category)
474. Compton, California
475. Miami Gardens, Florida
476. South Gate, California
477. Hemet, California

Read the list in full here. (These are the safest US cities overall.)