Missouri isn't near the gulf coast. Give an engineer a few facts and he'll connect them anydamn way he pleases. Insert Hoover joke here.
The point is that hurricanes hit the SE every year, and you don't need to wait long for guaranteed disaster.
Earthquakes are rarer, and don't seem to be as devastating - even the worst ones. Do you remember anything like the chaos we saw in New Orleans after the '89 quake in the bay area or the Northridge quake on SoCal? No. I lived in California for 23 years, and lived through multiple quakes over 6.0 - no big deal. I would not be able to say the same for clas 3, 4, or 5 hurricanes, now would I? California with its earthquakes is often cited as being just as crazy a place to live as the SE with their hurricanes, but this just isn't true. And, the worst earthquakes will occur in the midwest, not the west coast, something about the geology, as I recall. I believe that was what Selkirk was referring to.
Moreover, to cite volcanoes as an equivalent risk for those in the PNW is ludicrous. Mt. Saint Helens is the only eruption that occurred in most of our lifetimes (compared to how many hurricanes in the SE?), and the loss of life, and damage to populated areas was minimal. If Rainier were to erupt, it would be much more devastating, but the likelihood is very low, and the event would be more likely singular - unlike the repeating, seasonal hurricanes that strike the SE.