Which natural disaster do you fear the most?

[firedept]

I know from experience that tornado warnings are only issued the moment the weatherman spots the weird shapes on the doppler radar, which can sometimes be a few minutes after it's touched down and already knocking houses over. And even when they're issued, people don't take them nearly as seriously as they should, because they always seem to be somewhere else.

...until they're not.

That's what's so scary about tornadoes. You can tell when conditions are favorable for one, but they're impossible to predict otherwise. In fact, when my town got hit by one almost two years ago to the day, we didn't even get a take shelter warning come over the news or weather radio. It wasn't even mentioned until after it was gone.

Got you. But when we get those conditions here in Alberta (which is rare), I take them seriously. Having been in the Fire Services for several years, I have seen and dealt with the end result first hand. My wife and I have plans for just such an emergency. We have a sheltered area to go to with supplies and this is why I do not worry. It would take a nuke to destroy our shelter.

Preparedness takes away the scare for me. Earthquakes fall into this category as well. It is probably the unpredictability that scares people so much.

 

[rhett7660]

Earthquakes. Don't know when or where they are going to strike or how big they are going to be when they do.

For the most part, the others you get some kind of warning.

 

[MattG]

SW Florida here so, hurricanes for me.

 

[dukebound85]

Not sure what I was thinking earlier

Wildfires top my list followed by tornadoes and hailstorms

Having had many last year and a few already this year, all of which I could see (the fire, not just the smoke) from my office they are not something I am calm about

Not to mention, the air gets so bad, you can't breath

Here is a pic from last summer. I know quite a few people who have lost their homes

 

[ucfgrad93]

Not sure what I was thinking earlier

Wildfires top my list followed by tornadoes and hailstorms

Having had many last year and a few already this year, all of which I could see (the fire, not just the smoke) from my office they are not something I am calm about

Not to mention, the air gets so bad, you can't breath

Here is a pic from last summer. I know quite a few people who have lost their homes

Yeah, the Waldo Canyon fire was really bad. We had some friends stay in our house for a few days because they had to evacuate. Fortunately, their house was ok, but it was dicey for a couple of days.

 

[dukebound85]

Yeah, the Waldo Canyon fire was really bad. We had some friends stay in our house for a few days because they had to evacuate. Fortunately, their house was ok, but it was dicey for a couple of days.

Yea, I had some friends in the Springs who were evacuated from their work and homes from that fire.

The photo I posted was that of the High Park Fire.

Crazy, on the first day of 70degree temps this year, we had 2 wildfires reported. This was just last week. Might be a long summer

 

[andalusia]

One thing about tsunamis is that you at least have a warning. Either you are close enough to feel the earthquake and to then head of high ground. Or if the earthquake was too far to feel then there will be warnings issued. You still come back to devastation... but with some preparation you will have time to save yourself.

I guess it's not my own death that scares me, it's the general destruction level that frightens me. You may be able to save yourself but you can't protect your home or town.

 

[snberk103]

I guess it's not my own death that scares me, it's the general destruction level that frightens me. You may be able to save yourself but you can't protect your home or town.

Fair enough. We saw a news piece last week about Japanese families still living in temporary homes as their town tries to deal with what to do after the tsunami that literally wiped the core of their town clean away. The older residents tend to be adamant that they want to rebuild in the old town, and the town council wants to flatten the tops of some hills and rebuild up there. In the meantime workers continue to make big piles of debris sorted by material... metal, concrete, glass, etc. ... as they continue to cleaning up the debris left.

Though leaving in a coastal community we are (supposedly) protected from tsunamis.... at least directly.

 

[eawmp1]

I've been through (well, was skipped over 1/2 mile on either side) a tornado and in Florida I've seen my share of hurricanes.

As I had many days to prepare for the hurricanes, and nary a warning of the tornado, I'd just assume never be threatened by a tornado again.

 

[lifeinhd]

I answered this poll on the assumption I'm living with my head in the sand, completely unaware of what's coming. Because when it comes to weather, that's pretty much true.

And for that reason I said volcano. Something like a hurricane or tornado you can hide in the basement and be fine. Earthquakes are generally not a big deal-- I've lived through a few of them, if it were major at all I'd just run outside away from anything that might fall. But a volcano... what can I do to protect myself exactly? Stand indefinitely on something that isn't going to melt, praying the lava doesn't rise any higher?

Space rock would be cool more than anything, assuming I don't get squished

But the all time worst, hands down, would be this.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

Of course earthquakes are quite scary, specially those big one we had in Japan in 2011 or years back with a direct hit in Kobe. But for earthquakes you kind of can use some technology to reduce damage; limited I know. Most casualties in Kobe was by fire which broke out due to leakage in gas pipes.

But what I most fear would be a tsunami. Even if you have some warning upfront you can't really escape. If a tsunami would hit a crowded area there is no chance to run. Seeing a ship lifted on top of a three story building is quite impressive. And the subsequent disaster in Fukushima was caused by tsunami and not direct impact by the quake.

2004 in Indonesia was also the tsunami which caused the huge amount of casualties; even across the ocean in India, Sri Lanka and Afrika.

One more: last time I saw an documentary about the risk the the east coast of US could be hit by a tsunami once on the other side of the Atlantic a big landslide would split one of the Canary Islands.

 

[Solomani]

Why is the Zombie Apocalypse not listed above?

And who says that zombies are not natural?

 

[tekboi]

Ever Since I saw Deep Impact and Armageddon in the 90's i've always had a fear that the earth would get hit by an astroid one day.

 

[snberk103]

Ever Since I saw Deep Impact and Armageddon in the 90's i've always had a fear that the earth would get hit by an astroid one day.

The earth will get by an asteroid one day. In fact, didn't we have one just last month?

 

[Renzatic]

The earth will get by an asteroid one day. In fact, didn't we have one just last month?

He means, like, a freaking huge asteroid. One of those big 'ole bastards.

 

[snberk103]

He means, like, a freaking huge asteroid. One of those big 'ole bastards.

The first part of my post still applies, in that case I believe.

At last count there were 1390 "potentially hazardous" asteroids being tracked. What freaks me out is that when that number get notched up a count or 4, the "new" asteroid has already passed the earth and they are looking at the backside. Yikes.

 

[Renzatic]

The first part of my post still applies, in that case I believe.

At last count there were 1390 "potentially hazardous" asteroids being tracked. What freaks me out is that when that number get notched up a count or 4, the "new" asteroid has already passed the earth and they are looking at the backside. Yikes.

The one slight silver lining to this is that most of the asteroids we miss would only be capable of localized damage were they to hit Earth. It'd suck for people in the impact zone, sure, but they wouldn't cause a massive planet level extinction event like the ones in Armageddon and Deep Impact.

An asteroid the size of Texas? With the resolution we're currently scanning the skies at, it'd be a hard thing to miss.

 

[MacNut]

The one slight silver lining to this is that most of the asteroids we miss would only be capable of localized damage were they to hit Earth. It'd suck for people in the impact zone, sure, but they wouldn't cause a massive planet level extinction event like the ones in Armageddon and Deep Impact.

An asteroid the size of Texas? With the resolution we're currently scanning the skies at, it'd be a hard thing to miss.

Even a small impact would effect the earths environment. I don't think we could dismiss a small impact.

 

[AnnaBee75]

We will all die eventually. I am not afraid of dying, but have survived 1993 Northridge 6.9 R earthquake, so I remember that feeling. Quite scary. I remember being afraid while aftershocks were shaking the earth for weeks.

 

[snberk103]

The one slight silver lining to this is that most of the asteroids we miss would only be capable of localized damage were they to hit Earth. It'd suck for people in the impact zone, sure, but they wouldn't cause a massive planet level extinction event like the ones in Armageddon and Deep Impact.

An asteroid the size of Texas? With the resolution we're currently scanning the skies at, it'd be a hard thing to miss.

Fair enough. Though..... the Chelyabinsk meteor is being estimated at 17-20 metres across. Before April 13th there are 3 more 'very near' asteroids that range from 29m to 50m. Not counting the 32m rock that just passed us, and was not seen until it was flying by.

Just for fun I calculated the volume of a 20m rock (Chelyabinsk) vs the 50m rock that is zooming by on the 13th. Works out to be 15 times more massive (4,200 cu.m vs 65,000 cu.m). Assuming similar composition, of course. Hmmmm I started this to tease you a bit, but now I'm starting to worry myself.

Of course we don't need to worry about the eight asteroids that range from 1.1 to 2.2 Kilometres across that are scheduled to promenade by the earth between now and the middle of June. Oh no... I feel as safe as a bug under a log... which is where I'm thinking I want to be.

Yikes.

Link to the page with the PHA table at SpaceWeather.com. Which, btw, had only 1389 objects listed yesterday.

 

[Renzatic]

Even a small impact would effect the earths environment. I don't think we could dismiss a small impact.

True to a point. If it's just large enough, it could kick enough debris into the air to cause a mini nuclear winter, dropping global temperatures by about 3 degrees C. The ecological damage would probably be about on par with the Krakatoa eruption back in the late 19th century.

But it wouldn't be a long term Earth altering event. Rather, things would really suck on the weather front for about a year or two, then slowly return to pre-impact levels over the next couple of years beyond that. The real long term damage would be economic, with the sudden downturn in food supplies, and all the world governments scrambling about to compensate.

 

[snberk103]

True to a point. If it's just large enough, it could kick enough debris into the air to cause a mini nuclear winter, dropping global temperatures by about 3 degrees C. The ecological damage would probably be about on par with the Krakatoa eruption back in the late 19th century.

But it wouldn't be a long term Earth altering event. Rather, things would really suck on the weather front for about a year or two, then slowly return to pre-impact levels over the next couple of years beyond that. The real long term damage would be economic, with the sudden downturn in food supplies, and all the world governments scrambling about to compensate.

True enough to a point... but impact to our societies will be quite a bit more extensive I believe. There isn't much resilience left in human society to absorb a planetary series of droughts and floods. There will be mass displacements of tens of millions of people whose water and food supplies have dried up. Not just in the usual locations, but everywhere. And the nations that used to absorb displaced people or to support the in situ won't be able to. The mass starvation will be tragic enough... but conditions like this lead to war as desperate nations result to military solutions to take care of their populations.

To be quite serious, it's not the natural disaster that frightens me...it's the disaster disrupts our global food networks badly enough that it lights the fuse on a planetary wide series of bush wars between desperate peoples and nations.

Sigh.

 

[GermanyChris]

I don't fear natural disasters I fear people reaction to them

 

[Renzatic]

True enough to a point... but impact to our societies will be quite a bit more extensive I believe. There isn't much resilience left in human society to absorb a planetary series of droughts and floods. There will be mass displacements of tens of millions of people whose water and food supplies have dried up. Not just in the usual locations, but everywhere. And the nations that used to absorb displaced people or to support the in situ won't be able to. The mass starvation will be tragic enough... but conditions like this lead to war as desperate nations result to military solutions to take care of their populations.

To be quite serious, it's not the natural disaster that frightens me...it's the disaster disrupts our global food networks badly enough that it lights the fuse on a planetary wide series of bush wars between desperate peoples and nations.

Sigh.

Yup. One of the low points of globalization is that every nation in the world is rather vitally connected. It's not like in yee olden days when a country could fall, and all it'd effect locally would be the availability of a few trade goods. Now, if any first world country were to get hit with a meteor, it'd immediately depress the economies of every other first world nation, which in turn would directly effect the third world nations.

The only good news would be that the first world nations would recover relatively quickly. We have enough technologies to fall back on to help us compensate for less sunlight. It wouldn't be a simple nonissue, we'd all have to change our lifestyles, and deal with less food and goods for awhile, but we'd still be able to support ourselves at least nominally. It'd be the third world nations that'd bear the brunt of the impact. The first world would be using all their resources to take care of themselves at this point. Like you said, that'd eventually lead to mass starving, waves of immigrants flocking to the richer countries who can only barely handle their current population, wars for even the most piddling of resources amongst everyone, big and small...

While I don't think it'd result in the end of the world as we know it, it definitely wouldn't be fun for anyone involved.

 

[tekboi]

The earth will get by an asteroid one day. In fact, didn't we have one just last month?

A "catastrophic" collision.