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My concern with Portland is that it can be washed away by a massive tsunami any day now. Reference: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big

My concern with Portland is that it can be washed away by a massive tsunami any day now. Reference: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big...

twobyfour 9y ago
Meh, New York could be wiped out by a moderate-sized earthquake (that we're supposedly overdue for and definitely unprepared for) any day now. I'm not sure there's such a thing as a city that's not vulnerable to at least one climate change or natural disaster threat.
- electricslpnsld 9y ago
  > I'm not sure there's such a thing as a city that's not vulnerable to at least one climate change or natural disaster threat. Denver seems pretty safe. No earthquakes, safe from rising seas, no hurricanes or tsunamis.
  - twobyfour 9y ago
    Tornados? Drought?
    - cylinder 9y ago
      Driving in snow.
  - dankoss 9y ago
    True, except for freshwater availability. Denver already has to pipe water in and hope for plenty of snowmelt. Climate changes could impact that.
  - kgwgk 9y ago
    Yellowstone supervolcano.
- taoistextremist 9y ago
  Northern cities that are more inland seem to avoid them. Maybe they have the same earthquake vulnerability you mentioned, but I think it's extremely unlikely, but there's Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, even Montreal that are able to deal with the large snowfalls they get, and in general don't seem like they'll be hit as hard by climate change-caused extreme weather as other areas.
  - noarchy 9y ago
    An even worse version of the 1998 ice storm could really cripple the northern cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ic...
ravitation 9y ago
Considering Portland is about 80 miles inland, earthquake is the major risk... But that's no different than the other major cities on the Pacific Rim.
Aloha 9y ago
The likelihood that Portland will be washed away by a tsunami is basically nil. Portland is ~80 miles inland from the pacific ocean - and the odds of a tsunami coming up the columbia river from the pacific, and still having much destructive power to do more than just flood, is again, basically nil - it would literally need to be a perfect storm for it to work.
- flukus 9y ago
  I thought you were wrong based on my memory of the 2011 Japan tsunami and the images we all watched as it raced inland for what seemed like forever, but according to wikipedia it only traveled up to 10 km (6 miles) inland. So even the biggest tsunami the world has witnessed wouldn't come close.
  - xyhopguy 9y ago
    there is also a mountain range in the way.

twobyfour 9y ago

Meh, New York could be wiped out by a moderate-sized earthquake (that we're supposedly overdue for and definitely unprepared for) any day now. I'm not sure there's such a thing as a city that's not vulnerable to at least one climate change or natural disaster threat.

electricslpnsld 9y ago
> I'm not sure there's such a thing as a city that's not vulnerable to at least one climate change or natural disaster threat. Denver seems pretty safe. No earthquakes, safe from rising seas, no hurricanes or tsunamis.
- twobyfour 9y ago
  Tornados? Drought?
  - cylinder 9y ago
    Driving in snow.
- dankoss 9y ago
  True, except for freshwater availability. Denver already has to pipe water in and hope for plenty of snowmelt. Climate changes could impact that.
- kgwgk 9y ago
  Yellowstone supervolcano.
taoistextremist 9y ago
Northern cities that are more inland seem to avoid them. Maybe they have the same earthquake vulnerability you mentioned, but I think it's extremely unlikely, but there's Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, even Montreal that are able to deal with the large snowfalls they get, and in general don't seem like they'll be hit as hard by climate change-caused extreme weather as other areas.
- noarchy 9y ago
  An even worse version of the 1998 ice storm could really cripple the northern cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ic...

ravitation 9y ago

Considering Portland is about 80 miles inland, earthquake is the major risk... But that's no different than the other major cities on the Pacific Rim.

Aloha 9y ago

The likelihood that Portland will be washed away by a tsunami is basically nil. Portland is ~80 miles inland from the pacific ocean - and the odds of a tsunami coming up the columbia river from the pacific, and still having much destructive power to do more than just flood, is again, basically nil - it would literally need to be a perfect storm for it to work.

flukus 9y ago
I thought you were wrong based on my memory of the 2011 Japan tsunami and the images we all watched as it raced inland for what seemed like forever, but according to wikipedia it only traveled up to 10 km (6 miles) inland. So even the biggest tsunami the world has witnessed wouldn't come close.
- xyhopguy 9y ago
  there is also a mountain range in the way.