Are there any Natural Disasters in Phoenix area??? (Ajo, Maricopa: homes, earthquakes)

[TomB90]

Are there any big natural disasters that can happen in Phoenix? It seems like Phoenix is one of the safest US cities when it comes to disasters....no disasterous earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, snow storms, tsunamis, etc.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by TomB90

Are there any big natural disasters that can happen in Phoenix? It seems like Phoenix is one of the safest US cities when it comes to disasters....no disasterous earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, snow storms, tsunamis, etc.

There are a surprising number of structures in Maricopa County that are in the 100-year floodplain of various washes and rivers. If you stay away from them, though, there is not a whole lot to fear from mother nature around here.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by TomB90

Are there any big natural disasters that can happen in Phoenix? It seems like Phoenix is one of the safest US cities when it comes to disasters....no disasterous earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, snow storms, tsunamis, etc.

The answer is very simply NO! Of course, we have a small constituent of haters who will argue the opposite and claim we are a victim of constant floods, tornados, earthquakes etc. I remember one such hater had the temerity to argue that Phoenix receives snow because one time in 19??, there was slight snowfall in Phoenix that melted before it hit the ground. Trust me, I'm sure someone will reach into the bag of desperate arguments like that snowfall argument to contradict me now.

[johnrex62]

Unless you count insect and snakes to be natural disasters, or sleep in desert gullies and dry riverbeds, I think the pressure wave from the exasperation sighs as azriverfan reads these responses are your biggest dangers.

[redjan1225]

I work in the field of hospital disaster planning and the largest threat to Phoenix is heat. With sustained heat 24/7 in the summer months, this really taxes our electricity providers and has caused rolling black-outs. Deaths have resulted from people living on the streets, or in homes and trailers that do not have air conditionings. Also during our extreme summers, we get monsoon storms. Those storms produce the potential for microbursts, lightning strikes, flooding, etc. We had a very serious storm last summer where the tops of the clouds reached a over mile high and were -100 degrees while the ground surface was over +100. This produced a very violent storm that left some without power for up to 48 hours. Our dust storms can also be very violent and can cause a lot of damage due to motor vehicle accidents.

We also have the potential for tornados, we just don't see them very often.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by redjan1225

I work in the field of hospital disaster planning and the largest threat to Phoenix is heat. With sustained heat 24/7 in the summer months, this really taxes our electricity providers and has caused rolling black-outs. Deaths have resulted from people living on the streets, or in homes and trailers that do not have air conditionings. Also during our extreme summers, we get monsoon storms. Those storms produce the potential for microbursts, lightning strikes, flooding, etc. We had a very serious storm last summer where the tops of the clouds reached a over mile high and were -100 degrees while the ground surface was over +100. This produced a very violent storm that left some without power for up to 48 hours. Our dust storms can also be very violent and can cause a lot of damage due to motor vehicle accidents.

We also have the potential for tornados, we just don't see them very often.

I can not remember ever having a "rolling" blackout here and I have been here 35 years or so. That is nonsense. Clouds reached a mile high? 5000 feet, really? Sounds more like the cloud base elevation to me. Also your lapse rate is nonsense. Your whole post for that matter is nonsense. It scares me to think that you are involved in disaster planning, but I really don't think you are.

BTW, heat is not a disaster in the desert; it is the climate. We don't even have heat waves. It gradually gets hotter and hotter then stays that way.

Monsoon storms can be nasty, but they cause localized damage and I don't think they rise to the level of disasters. If you look at disaster declarations in Arizona they are all from floods in our part of the state and some from excessive snowfall in the NE quadrant.

[snowflake13]

Well you have to think about wild fires. Of course they typically do not happen in city limits, though even if there is a wild fire 100 + miles away (which there are every summer) you will get smoke and have side effects from that.

[TomB90]

I heard that a lot of businesses move to Phoenix because of the low amount of natural disasters.

[Brandonrchrd]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

The answer is very simply NO! Of course, we have a small constituent of haters who will argue the opposite and claim we are a victim of constant floods, tornados, earthquakes etc. I remember one such hater had the temerity to argue that Phoenix receives snow because one time in 19??, there was slight snowfall in Phoenix that melted before it hit the ground. Trust me, I'm sure someone will reach into the bag of desperate arguments like that snowfall argument to contradict me now.

I don't know about contradicting you, but I do know i've read once every five years, whats left over from hurricanes or tropical storms can enter Arizona, It's happened before and killed 23 people in the Phoenix area. Also a storm has entered Arizona before still classified as a tropical storm with circulation still in tact and all. One more thing, there is a very slight chance of it happening, but if the roosevelt dam ever broke, within 8 hours there would be a wall of water and phoenix would be inundated. The tropical storm thing is a lot more possible than u might think, they can cause MAJOR flooding, the possibility of a wall of water, or major flooding and 23 people dying sounds like a pretty serious disaster. I guess u can try to contradict me, but I got all my facts from reliable sources online.

[Brandonrchrd]

Many people think phoenix is so immune to disasters when really we are still a very young city, If I had to guess the future I would say the most likely would be a large flood from a tropical storm or a dam breach, and it will come as a big surprise because people have been so closed minded about the possibilities, and I really don't sense the presence of an emergency response team in Phoenix (im sure their here, jus are not in tact with the public much).