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I live in the Puget Sound area of Washington state.
Earthquakes - not common but if they happen can cause quite a bit of damage. The last major earthquake that happened here was the Nisqually Quake in 2001, which had a magnitude of around 6.8. Tsunamis - a byproduct of earthquakes. They impact the Washington coast much more than they do the Sound, which is much more sheltered. Volcanoes - There are five active volcanoes in Washington. Mt. St. Helens is by far the most likely to be the next one to erupt. Wildfires - fires are a normal part of the ecosystem here. Though the drier summers and hotter weather induced by climate change could make them much worse in the future.
Sounds like a lot, but most of these are extremely low frequency. The likelihood of experiencing an earthquake or volcanic eruption on any given year is very very low.
Albuquerque is pretty much immune to natural disasters. There might be a flash flood in an arroyo in the broader area or maybe a forest fire up in the mountains.
The volcanoes don't cause much of a problem anymore. No tornados except out on the plains. That's where the space aliens are. Tumbleweed stampedes are a minor problem on windy days in the spring. We might have an occasional problem with snow. But we have horses. The frackers might be an earthquake issue in parts of the state. https://youtu.be/OAG9eGi4YL8
Raleigh gets tornado warnings sometimes, but it’s mostly indistinguishable from a severe thunderstorm. In my lifetime, only 1 tornado did significant damage, the 1988 one that flattened the Kmart on Glenwood Avenue.
Snowstorms occur most years, but usually our big ones are about 2-3 inches. The big one in my lifetime was the 20 inches in 2000. That said, ice can be a pain. But also we can even make a couple inches of snow look apocalyptic. Google “Snowmaggedon Raleigh” for funny memes after a picture on Glenwood Avenue went viral (it’s actually the “New Mexicans in snow” meme above lol). That snow came out of nowhere, I have actually never seen driving conditions deteriorate faster over a 10-minute period.
Hurricanes are the big natural disasters people think about here. Raleigh is relatively lucky in terms of hurricanes, with the 1 major hurricane to hit Raleigh directly in my lifetime was Fran (1996). Eastern NC gets the brunt of hurricane damage unfortunately, both in terms of the direct damage from the wind, and also the flooding issues that occur in the aftermath. Hurricane Matthew (2016) was particularly destructive for Greenville, New Bern, Lumberton, etc.
Raleigh gets tornado warnings sometimes, but it’s mostly indistinguishable from a severe thunderstorm. In my lifetime, only 1 tornado did significant damage, the 1988 one that flattened the Kmart on Glenwood Avenue.
Snowstorms occur most years, but usually our big ones are about 2-3 inches. The big one in my lifetime was the 20 inches in 2000. That said, ice can be a pain. But also we can even make a couple inches of snow look apocalyptic. Google “Snowmaggedon Raleigh” for funny memes after a picture on Glenwood Avenue went viral (it’s actually the “New Mexicans in snow” meme above lol). That snow came out of nowhere, I have actually never seen driving conditions deteriorate faster over a 10-minute period.
Hurricanes are the big natural disasters people think about here. Raleigh is relatively lucky in terms of hurricanes, with the 1 major hurricane to hit Raleigh directly in my lifetime was Fran (1996). Eastern NC gets the brunt of hurricane damage unfortunately, both in terms of the direct damage from the wind, and also the flooding issues that occur in the aftermath. Hurricane Matthew (2016) was particularly destructive for Greenville, New Bern, Lumberton, etc.
2011 Tornado fortunately didn't cause any deaths in Raleigh like the 1988 one did; but there was definitely significant damage from it. Quite a few homes and other buildings damaged/destroyed in East/Northeast Raleigh and it took out a Home Depot in Sanford before that. It was an F3.
And yes I also had to chuckle at the "New Mexico" picture above actually being the viral photo from Raleigh. haha
St. Louis has endured earthquakes (originating from the New Madrid fault line), flooding (the city and county are surrounded on three sides by rivers), tornados (part of “tornado alley”), and your occasional winter ice storm that brings life to a standstill. Flooding is the most frequent of these; there are several area residents coping with the aftermath of this right now.
I have no memory of the 2011 tornado. Looking it up, I wonder if we weren’t at the beach that week. Thanks.
I was in college at the time and we just had very heavy T-storms in Chapel Hill; but still remember having WRAL on in the apartment with my roommates (one of whom was interning at WRAL through the J-School at the time) and seeing the funnel in the background of the downtown Raleigh skycam.
I was a newborn infant (less than a week old) when the Nov 1988 Tornado hit Raleigh; and also still living in NY haha.
Live in Honolulu mainly, so we’re talking about hurricanes and potentially tsunamis, though we’ve been fortunate to not have experienced major disasters in either regard for a hot minute.
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