"Every location in the country is exposed to one disaster or another," Wendy Rose, spokeswoman for the Institute for Business & Home Safety, a Tampa, Fla.-based nonprofit insurance industry group that aims to reduce losses from natural catastrophes, told Forbes.

Working with Sperling's Best Places, which has compiled weather and disaster data for 331 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., Forbes sought to locate the safest - and least safe - areas in which to live.

Topping their list was Honolulu, Hawaii, which Forbes explains lives up to its reputation as a paradise. Blessed with year-round beautiful weather and long stretches of beach, it is also not prone to tornadoes, wind, hail or extreme weather.

Although between 1972 and 2000, Hawaii had a total of 12 major disasters declared, according to FEMA, it's relatively low on the disaster scale - especially compared to states like Texas, where 51 major disasters were declared in the same period, or California, which had 45.

"We are fortunate that the way things have happened, we are pretty safe," Ray Lovell, spokesman for Hawaii State Civil Defense told Forbes. "Knock on wood."

Other relatively safe places included Boise, Idaho; Santa Fe, N.M.; and three cities each in Oregon and Washington. But despite the lower incidence of frequent natural disasters in the Pacific Northwest, people who live there know that their area is far from secure, facing the prospect of tsunamis, earthquakes and volcano activities.

Cases-in-point: Mud flows could come sliding down Mt. Rainer. A fault that lies 300 miles of the coast could create a huge swell of water.

Among the least safe places are such southern cities as Monroe, La., which was ranked the least safe on Forbes list, with frequent wind and hail. Dallas has lots of wind and hail, and is prone to some tornadoes. (In fact, Texas has the highest homeowners insurance rates in the U.S.) Jackson, Miss. gets hit by twisters and West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla. frequently find themselves facing hurricane threats.

Of the 5 major metropolitan areas in the U.S., Forbes ranked Washington D.C. the safest with a score of 110 (the lower the score the safer the area). New York was second at 126, Chicago third at 138, Philadelphia fourth at 144 and Los Angeles fifth with a score of 207.

According to Forbes, the Institute for Business & Home Safety has a program called Fortified for Safer Living, which helps homeowners and builders incorporate materials and technologies into new homes that will allow the buildings to withstand severe weather like hurricanes and earthquakes. They have a ZIP code locator that will tell you what kinds of things can help your home.

"It's just like you would choose the safety features on your vehicle," the Institutes Wendy Rose told Forbes. "You should also choose them for your home."

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