Worried About Asteroids, Volcanoes? Where’s the Best Place to Ride Out the Next Cataclysm?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

The apocalypse is not nigh, as I have long maintained, but what about a cataclysm? I am talking about a sudden and extreme violent event: Just last month, an asteroid big enough to destroy a city passed between the Earth and the moon. The possibility of a nuclear exchange is greater than it has been in decades. Scientists are still studying the global impact of last year's eruption of a super-volcano in the South Pacific.

If you fear that America is going to face a cataclysm of some sort soon, you may ask yourself where you should you ride it out. I have a counterintuitive answer: If you live in a dense urban area, stay put — especially if, like me, you live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The biggest advantage of the Washington region is that, in the case of a real catastrophe, it would receive a lot of direct aid. It's not just that Congress and the White House are nearby — so are the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA and hundreds if not thousands of government agencies. Insofar as there might be an emergency response to a cataclysmic event, the Washington area will be prioritized.

The region also has plenty of hospitals and doctors, and a wide variety of law-enforcement units — including the various federal agencies as well as police from Maryland, Virginia and D.C. If you care about order being restored, Washington will be better than most places.

Of course, a counterargument is that Washington is more likely than most places to be hit by a cataclysmic event, especially if it involves a nuclear exchange or some other weapon of mass destruction. But there's “good news,” scare-quotes intended: If a foreign enemy is truly intent on targeting America's capital, the conflict may be so extreme that it won't matter where you go.