Most dangerous city in terms of natural disasters? (living, state, better)
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Mudslides are extremely localized, and wildfires more often than not happen in sparsely populated wilderness. The closest "LA" comes to burning is if Malibu or anywhere in the Santa Monica Mtns burns. But even that is only a drop in the bucket in terms of population affected.
Historically speaking, even the deadliest earthquake in LA's history doesn't even scratch the surface of the most deadly hurricanes. Even with all that warning, hurricanes kill more people.
Hurricane Katrina: A week or preparation and warning and 1,833 lives lost.
Northridge Earthquake: No warning whatsoever. 57 lives lost.
I don't know....57 < 1,833. Just saying, I'll take earthquakes, mudslides and wildfires every single day than ONE hurricane season. Warning and all.
To be intellectually honest, though, you do have to admit that LA is constantly preparing for earthquakes with new building and roadway dampening designs. Ho bad would it be if they didn't do that? We'll never know.
But, I am still more scared of hurricanes than earthquakes.
What about tropical storms? While they're obviously not as strong as a Hurricane, they can still cause some damage. How many of those have hit South Florida in the last decade?
To be intellectually honest, though, you do have to admit that LA is constantly preparing for earthquakes with new building and roadway dampening designs. Ho bad would it be if they didn't do that? We'll never know.
But, I am still more scared of hurricanes than earthquakes.
Don't all cities do this to prepare for their respective potential natural disasters?
Honestly I'm way mote worried about a tsunami than a mudslide or wildfire. Like MB said, those two things effect like .01 percent of Southland residents, mainly the affluent hillside neighborhoods.
For me I'd say any medium to large mid-west or southern city - you've got tornados and the ever present danger of rivers flooding. Flooding seems so much more devastating than earthquakes
Miami should not even be on the list. Compared to LA?? SF??? NOLA????
Miami is more prone to considerable damage and loss of life from natural disasters than LA or SF ever could dream of being. For every ONE major earthquake that actually does something there are HUNDREDS of Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and tropical storms that are far more costly and deadly. Please, if anything, LA and SF should NOT be on the list and Miami should be on the list twice.
Last edited by MB8abovetherim; 10-13-2012 at 12:54 PM..
I voted for New Orleans, but Houston, specifically the Galveston region, is right there with it. The whole Gulf Coast really. Hurricanes are not as visually startling as tornadoes/earthquakes/volcano eruptions, but they are devastating and far more frequent.
New Orleans is probably going to "win" this poll since most people still have the images of Katrina in their heads. But I dont think people realize that that type of storm does not hit often at all. Also I dont think major hurricanes hit the New Orleans area any more often than the rest of the coast.
Miami should not even be on the list. Compared to LA?? SF??? NOLA????
Miami should be on the list. It sits right on the coast and has a very low elevation. Just look at the Mississippi coast after Katrina if you want to see what can happen to places that sit directly on the coast.
Miami should be on the list. It sits right on the coast and has a very low elevation. Just look at the Mississippi coast after Katrina if you want to see what can happen to places that sit directly on the coast.
San Francisco. The San Andreas fault runs RIGHT UNDER the city, and it's infrastructure is too complicated and crowded, especially with BART and MUNI stacked on different levels on top of each other. In some neighborhoods, such as the Marina, the compaction of the soil is iffy and some of the rowhouses built on steep hills could be seriously jeopardized.
In Los Angeles, the San Andreas fault runs quite a ways north of the city and skirts it by being out in the high desert.
As for New Orleans, if it had ever spent the money to build an appropriate and substantial seawall instead of rickety levees, the problem could be somewhat alleviated.
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