Natural perils? (Prescott, Chino Valley, Williamson: condo, house, scorpions)

[indruf]

Given the horrific tornado damage in the south and most recently in Joplin MO plus flooding along the MS River and others......what natural disasters is Prescott at risk for? Flash floods, wild fires? earthquakes?

Thanks to all in advance

[keninaz]

Not much.
AZ really does not have twisters and earthquakes like many areas of the country.
We can during heavy periods of rain get some localized flooding from overflow from the drainage areas but nothing like you see in the news for the Mississippi River.
We do have some earthquake faults in the state but we have not had a major earthquake since the 1880s here.
I suppose the worst potential problem we have here is fire. We have many areas in town and are up against or in wooded areas of the forest and the possibility of fire does exist in those areas of course.
And from time to time during our rainy season during the summer months people have had damage from winds associated with our monsoons.
Here is a little history on earthquakes in AZ http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...na/history.php
I grew up in earthquake country just north of SF but never really had any major damages in my area. Still they worry many as you just have no warning.
And this year I look at the twisters that have hit many and the floods and I think just how lucky we are here.

[BarbinPrescott]

Prescott is agressive in teaching homeowners in fire prone areas how to make their homes safer from wildfires. see Prescott Area Wildland/Urban Interface Commission for many suggestions on creating defensible spaces around properties. as Keninaz said we are fortunate to live in a fairly benign area of the country.

[indruf]

We just had 3 tornadoes pass within 10 miles of our house with one touch down here in central IL. No reports of injury or damage yet.......300+ days of sun sounds pretty good right now.

[keninaz]

Hang in there. I would not want to live where they are but many do.
I saw interviews with people that lived in Joplin for 50+ years with no problems, until that force 5 hit and took down 30% of the town.
It's been a bad year so far, let's all hope it gets better.

[PaulieM]

The imminent threat would be fire. That said your Federal govt.(who many label intrusive and incompetent these days) by means of the US Forest Service performs an outstanding job in protecting Prescott.
A more insidious threat is water or lack thereof. And please, to those who take exception to that statement know that I am familiar with all the USGS data and those that dispute it. I know firsthand about wells going dry and IMHO have to go with the USGS on this.

A dearth of water is the greatest threat in Prescott's future .

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by indruf

Given the horrific tornado damage in the south and most recently in Joplin MO plus flooding along the MS River and others......what natural disasters is Prescott at risk for? Flash floods, wild fires? earthquakes?

Thanks to all in advance

The area is home to one of the largest earthquake fault lines in the state of Arizona. It is known as the Big Chino Fault and it is capable of a 7.0+ quake. The USGS lists it as an active fault line and they estimate that a 7.0+ quake is very possible.

We do get flash floods during Monsoon Season. Just beware of low areas and washes.

Wild fires are very possible, especially in the heavily wooded areas of the Prescott pines. Eventually with all the buildup and people not creating defensible space, we will have a devastating wildfire.

The other "natural" dangerous out here are venomous species of snakes, insects and spiders like the Black Widow. I mostly see centipedes and black widows out here. I have seen some tree bark scorpions and I encountered a Western Mojave Rattlesnake while walking in the Williamson Valley area north of Prescott.

[Kimballette]

Originally Posted by DellNec

The area is home to one of the largest earthquake fault lines in the state of Arizona. It is known as the Big Chino Fault and it is capable of a 7.0+ quake. The USGS lists it as an active fault line and they estimate that a 7.0+ quake is very possible.

Earthquake activity:

Prescott-area historical earthquake activity is significantly below Arizona state average. It is 80% smaller than the overall U.S. average.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Presco...#ixzz1NYSoox9x

[Esenjay]

Originally Posted by DellNec

The area is home to one of the largest earthquake fault lines in the state of Arizona. It is known as the Big Chino Fault and it is capable of a 7.0+ quake. The USGS lists it as an active fault line and they estimate that a 7.0+ quake is very possible.

We do get flash floods during Monsoon Season. Just beware of low areas and washes.

Wild fires are very possible, especially in the heavily wooded areas of the Prescott pines. Eventually with all the buildup and people not creating defensible space, we will have a devastating wildfire.

The other "natural" dangerous out here are venomous species of snakes, insects and spiders like the Black Widow. I mostly see centipedes and black widows out here. I have seen some tree bark scorpions and I encountered a Western Mojave Rattlesnake while walking in the Williamson Valley area north of Prescott.

Wow, wish I had known all this before I moved here, I didn't know the area I live in is so inhospitable. Here I was thinking I rather enjoy the 4 seasons and overall climate. Guess I'll move forward knowing that the worst will happen.

[smilinpretty]

First of all Dell Nec, I live only miles from the Chino Valley Fault. I have not felt one earthquake since living in CV, now I felt earthquakes in Lake Havasu and Southern California, in southern California you feel quakes all of the time and you don't think nothing about it. I live on the outskirts of CV, surrounded by State land and a small mountain in front of our house. There was one fire and they had it out within two hours. Since the monsoon rain is only a few hours a day, might result in flooding but one hour or two hours,the flooding stops. Living in Havasu and California, there were black widows all over our property, since living here, I haven't seen one black widow. Every year we see Garden snakes in the month of May, perhaps one or two for a few minutes and then they go back into the ground. I have never seen a rattle snake living 18 years in arizona but I have seen many rattle snakes in the deserts of California. One time, we were driving down FranK Sinatra Drive in Palm Springs, here is this huge rattle snake crossing the busy highway. In the California Mojave Desert, you would see lots of rattle snakes crossing the road in the months of May and June. I have never seen a rattle snake crossing the roads here in Northen arizona.

We have less bugs/insects living here than we had living in Southern California. I have a friend whose dear friend has been in hospital since Feb. in a coma, bite by a recluse spider. What we do have here, that our dogs love to chase and kill are lizards. I dont like that they kill the lizards but they are small dogs that don't know any better.

Please, if you are going to make statements that you do, would you please make them factful. You make a picture of the tri city area as the worst place to live. Maybe to you but to others they would never live anyplace else. I have lived many places all over the country, and the pluses outweigh the minuses here. You have painted Chino Valley as a druggie town, Home of the Hell's Angels and now having a earthquake fault that at any minute is ready to give us a 7.0 earthquake.

DellNec, no disrespect to you but I really feel as if you don't like living here in this area, as you paint a bleak picture of it, move back to where you lived before. Prescott is the top retirement area to live in the nation.
A few summers ago, my husband and I rented a condo on a lake in TN, a retirement community. We could sit on the patio for a few hours but once the sun went down we were no longer able to sit outside, we were attacked by mosquitos and no see ums and who knows what else, and we smelled mildrew in the condo because of all the rain they received. You go outside and you felt wet. I wouldn't pay to live back there. I feel so much healthier living in Arizona, healthier than California to be honest with you. I hope one day you see the glass half full, instead of half empty.