Worst natural disaster? (tornado, earthquake, to live in)

[bmurphy]

What's the worst type of natural disaster to you? Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, dust storms, whatever.

I choose earthquakes. They happen with no warning and they can be very destructive. A lot of people write them off because "they don't happen often". Well in proportion to tornadoes, hurricanes don't happen often either, but people don't write those off.

Anyways, what's the worst kind to you?

[Delaneyland]

In my humble opion, it would have to be a tornado. Thankfully, they are few and far between where I live, but they do occur. The devastation of a tornado can be absolutely horrible, destroying pretty much everything in its path. Like earthquakes, tornados are unpredictable and can simply form without warning. I know there are some predictors in the weather, but like the one that occured this morning in central Florida, can be completely unexpected.

[Cosmic]

The worst ones are probably those that don't leave you nothing left, even if they don't kill you.

Might be a tornado, fire or even a flood.

Earthquakes the stuff is still all there, well sort of in a pile at least.

Might be more which way would you choose to die. I don't like the idea of being crushed, nor is roasted alive all that appealling, I don't like swimming in muddy water. Getting your body torn apart probably is not much fun either. None of them seem to fit for me.

Bad flooding is very nasty stuff. Something about it that is just so so the thing to avoid at any expense.

So, I don't like any of them, all are equally bad actors in my book. Is why I choose to live in a place that doesn't have any of them, least with any type percentage that I have to worry about. About the worse I have to worry about is maybe some hail or an occassional bit of wind. Snow, I can take.

Now I need to figure out how to protect against rocks, airplanes or raindeers falling from the sky and I should be totally safe. H,mmm what if the sky should fall?????

I don't want any kinds of snakes or animals chewing on my leg either. Lots of things to avoid.

[ExNYC]

The one that frightens me most would be earthquakes because I live in the west. If I lived in the midwest, I'd be worried about tornadoes. If I lived in Florida, hurricans would be my fear.

It all depends on where you live and what is likely to happen.

[arel]

There is a dangerous earthquake risk in the midwest. In New Madrid, Missouri, they had the strongest earthquakes in American history, apart from the one in Anchorage. The Mississippi River got rerouted. This was in about 1812. There were few casualties because the area was sparsely populated. If it happened today, it would be a catastrophe because of the large population in the area. I think Memphis, TN is nearby.

I agree, though, that the most frightening disaster is the one you feel most vulnerable to in your area.

I'm surprised no one mentioned a tsunami. It destroys like a flash flood, and then pulls things, animals and people out to sea. But away from the coast, you are safe from them.

By the way, tornadoes can happen anywhere, even in the northeast.

It is wrenching to hear how people's lives are turned upside down by a disaster like an earthquake or tornado. Or any other disaster.

[bmurphy]

Tornadoes can happen anywhere true, but most commonly are associated with the midwest.

For some reason, it seems like this area (around Philly, PA) is pretty "safe". In history, yes, there's been earthquakes and tornadoes but evidently they don't happen very often.

What cities would you all consider "safer" then some from natural disasters?

[Nea1]

My mother- in -law!!!!!!!!!

[arel]

In New York, we tend to feel pretty safe from natural disasters.

But that may be an illusion. New York is a coastal town, and although hurricanes this far north are not common, and major ones are rare, they do happen and have the potential to wreak havoc. I think I saw New York ranked 3rd or thereabouts for hurricane vulnerability. The other most vulnerable cities are Miami, Houston and, of course New Orleans.

And I have read that New York is reportedly due for a major earthquake, and I don't think the buildings are adequately constructed for that.

Also, New York is dependent on bridges and tunnels. Only one of the five boroughs (the Bronx) is on the mainland. All the others are either islands (Staten Island, Manhattan) or are on the western tip of Long Island (Brooklyn, Queens). The bridges and tunnels create bottlenecks in the best of times. In the event they were unable to be used, there would be no way to get out of the city, unless you were in the Bronx.

And then there is the huge population, the density of the population and the large number of people who do not speak English. And then there is the complacency. New Yorkers fear man-made disasters, I think, more than we fear natural ones.

[Nea1]

I have been through a volcanic eruption, earthquake, hurricane and tornado. I would have to say out of all the earthquake scared me the most. there's no where to hide.

[christina0001]

Earthquakes would also scare me the most because often you get little or no warning that one is coming.