How often do you worry about natural disasters?

[lizziebeth]

I generally worry only in the Spring during the crazy thunderstorm season. I don't really worry about tornadoes since I've lived in Dallas for 30+ years and have never been remotely close to one. This past May was the first time I ever heard a weather siren that wasn't the monthly siren test.

I guess I fear the hail more than anything. Knock on wood...I haven't been caught in a hailstorm but if they even mention the word hail during the forecast, I make sure my car is in a garage or at least under covered parking.

I worry more for my California friends with the Santa Ana winds, earthquakes, fires, floods and mudslides.

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by lizziebeth

I generally worry only in the Spring during the crazy thunderstorm season. I don't really worry about tornadoes since I've lived in Dallas for 30+ years and have never been remotely close to one. This past May was the first time I ever heard a weather siren that wasn't the monthly siren test.

I guess I fear the hail more than anything. Knock on wood...I haven't been caught in a hailstorm but if they even mention the word hail during the forecast, I make sure my car is in a garage or at least under covered parking.

I worry more for my California friends with the Santa Ana winds, earthquakes, fires, floods and mudslides.

I was raised in CA and lived there for over 28 yeras. The Santa Anas can cause fire to spread as winds can anywhere. Fires are usually caused by some careless fool or arsonist or, in some cases, lightning.

Earthquakes I've been in and don't have a fear of them like I do tornadoes and severe storms and have been in way too many of them, not tornadoes but storms which can potentially cause them.

Mudslides - Anyone who builds his / her home on the side of the mountain chooses that risk.

What scared me the most in CA is when we had a lightning storm which was very rarely. I hated it and so did my friends. I must say that I can't even remember enough of them to count them on one hand in all those years. Where I lived in the San Fernando Valley (Burbank), we had no problems except in the hills around the city when people built homes on the side of a mountain. Yes, there were mudslides but very rarely.

[normie]

I live near D.C. Natural disasters don't worry me nearly as much as politicians...

[Chinolala]

I live in Chicago and don't worry about natural disasters at all. Tornados don't seem to come into the city. We do get lightning storms that sometimes hit homes and cause fires, but even that is remote. Natural disasters aren't a problem here.

[silvermyst]

I worry about them more when I am visiting somewhere. Just last April my family and I were in Georgia and of course when we were down there there were tornado warnings where we were at and I believe a few small ones touched down. Then on our way back home north we were in North Carolina driving in heavy rains at night and they were calling for flash flooding. So I mainly worry when I am somewhere else because it always seems to happen haha.
But most places have their problems so you are really not safe from mother nature anywhere.

[Mommyof2g]

I don't worry so much about natural disasters. I don't consider blizzards a natural disaster to areas prone to get significant snowfall at one time. It's a common occurance.

However, I have been petrified of tornados and earthquakes. As a truck driver (before the kids) I had a load of sponges (total weight about 1500 lbs) and drove through Iowa on my way to Texas. The sky went nearly balck at 2 in the afternoon in just seconds. I was stupid enough to turn on the weather scanner and hear there was a tornado 30 miles west of me headed east. I couldn't go fast enough to get the heck out of there (even though the truck only did about 68 if I stood on the pedal...lol)! Since then, I have learned to relax a little bit.

Certainly I agree being cautious and prepared are our best defense. But these days, I wonder if we need to be more prepared for man made events, rather than natural ones. I do avoid areas prone to tornados and earthquakes. Even though I am in Georgia, where I am located is not considered likely to have tornados. We had watches during Katrina simply because of the size of the storm and it's path caused a lot of severe thunderstorms. That's been the closest I've been to one since that incident in Iowa.