What is the worst possible natural disaster that can happen in your

[Horse with no Name]

community...and what have you done to prepare for it since figuring out you are on your own?

Our community it would be a tornado or floods.

[bleedingheart]

1. flooding and massive coal mine subsidence...

I have mine subsidence insurance $150/year and that would pay off the mortgage and give me a bit extra to start again with.

I have savings and I have money in a 401k I could tap into and I have relatives in two different states we could live with temporarily.

[phusion]

2. Can't really think of many

unless our water tables dry up.

We don't have earthquakes, hardly ever have tornadoes (and those that occur aren't close and are never really destructive), it hardly ever rains, etc.

Pretty calm around here...

[Sanity Claws]

8. Tell us where you live

I'm on the west coast. Let's see, we have tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, and a nuclear waste depository.

[phusion]

13. Albuquerque, NM

[Sanity Claws]

39. I like New Mexico

but alas, my search for a job indicated that there are not a lot of jobs in Albuquerque. (I would hate to be a kid growin up there and learning how to spell that name!)

[phusion]

44. hehe

Yea, not too many jobs besides Intel and the government sector.

We used to have little songs that just went A-L-B-U Q-U-E-R Q-U-E when I was growing up. Now it's second nature to me, but I know a lot of people who still can't spell it right. :)

[AspenRose]

101. Forest fire

Northern New Mexico in drought...Would hate to see a repeat of Cerro Grande around here. I hear "prescribed burn" and get nervous.

At least then FEMA was under Clinton...

[SeattleGirl]

51. Ditto!

Plus river flooding after heavy rains.

[likesmountains 52]

40. summer: forest fires...winter: blizzards n/t

[phusion]

42. Maybe state wide...

But not really here in the city...

[LandOLincoln]

84. You know those 5 old volcanoes lined up on the West Mesa?

You do know that no volcano is ever really extinct, right? :toast:

[phusion]

92. hehe

True! Maybe in my next life those will be a hazard. But, in my next life I sure as hell don't plan on living in Albuquerque. :)

Funny story you may have heard: Some HS seniors played a prank a few years back. They put a pile of old tires on each volcano at the West Mesa and lit them on fire in time for the morning commute. The news stations were inundated with calls that the volcanoes were erupting.

:rofl:

[Impeach_Shrub]

111. Southwest, New Mex, AZ, CA, NV all suffering from 7 years

of draught, with no sign of relief, and blazing, searing hot summers, killing 20 or 30 people this year. Our water shortage is, of course, exacerbated by Big Dick "Tourettes" Cheney's secret energy deals. In the Southwest we also suffer from terrible forest fires, again the result of draught, and global warming. Granted, ShrubCo did not invent these things, but they undeniably made them worse, and have done nothing to rectify.

[maine_raptor]

3. Up here

Ice storm bringing down power lines for months or a real heavy (4+ feet) snow storm that would collapse roofs.

Of course a third would be a mass influx of out-of-state hunters during deer season, but I don't think that qualifies as "natural".

[longship]

4. Richter 9.0 earthquake.

I live in SoCal, east of LA.

[Beaverhausen]

88. actually anything over a 7.0 will do us in

at least some of us - depending on time of day.

i just hope when it hits I'm either at home or at a grocery store!

:hi:

[longship]

96. I'm more concerned about the maximum area effect.

A 9.0 would really mess things up all over the place.

[Radio_Lady]

119. Yeah, same for Portland, Oregon. 9.0 is coming WHEN, not if...

They keep running a show on cable TV to discuss this. I've seen it about three or four times since I moved here in 1998.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Snow...

Nor'easters and the like. We did get an earthquake once. Mild - it pissed off the dogs more than anything else. :D

[Rhiannon12866]

146. Yes. Whiteouts and blizzards.

It makes driving pretty treacherous. And I remember that earthquake. I still have a small crack in my wall from that. As for the dogs, it wasn't "mild" to mine. I was just going to bed, around 5am, when he suddenly showed up, shaking like a leaf, and pressed himself up against my bed. He sensed it well before I did. And then, the whole house shook. Rags and I spent some time in my closet...
:scared:

[LizMoonstar]

6. Mississippi flooding.

like it does most years.

I live on the side with all the levees, at the top of a hill :)

[LisaM]

7. Earthquake

I'm in Seattle.

[Mrs. Overall]

35. I'm in the Seattle area, too, and I would add volcano and tsunami.

[Matariki]

41. really, a tsunami in the puget sound?

can that happen? i'm in seattle too. i think the most likely would be earthquake.

[Zynx]

110. Fault off the coast is just like the one in Indonesia

[karlrschneider]

49. If you're in Seattle, a lahar from Rainier could be catastrophic...

...

[LisaM]

91. But would a lahar actually get to Seattle?

All the disaster models have it near Enumclaw and that town where everyone got a free disaster radio. Even were a lahar to occur, it seems that we could evacuate Seattle ahead of it.

Ditto with a tsunami. I don't think we could get one that would be remotely close to those last December. Mind you, after last week, I'm not ruling anything out.

[graywarrior]

9. Hurricane. Nothing we can do as we are in the rectum part of Florida

and it would take traveling on route 75 to escape.

[LuCifer]

102. I heard that...

...That's pretty much it. And I'd LOVE to extend my THANKS to Jeb!® BUSHitler (email the scumbag: [e-mail] ) for the WONDERFUL job FEMA did here in Okeechobee where there are STILL blue/white tarp roofs EVERYWHERE. I guess not enough of us cattle/farmer folks voted for his asshole brother for him to give a crap enough to DO ANYTHING. Dick.

Lu

[graywarrior]

105. No shit. Drive through Port Charlotte and see all the pretty

blue tarps flappin in the breeze.

[politicat]

148. yep.... tarps that ended up causing as much roof damage as Charley.

My gran is in Northport, works in PC and Punta Gorda. (I lived there, too, went to Meadowpark Elementary school.)

Gran now has a new roof on her doublewide... it survived Charley save for a piece of siding that detached (we were so lucky.... she was her friends' shelter for several weeks) until FEMA came along and nailed one of those damn blue tarps to her roof... and put holes in the roof where there had been none before.

[MsTryska]

10. i'm thinking tornadoes here.....

maybe floods, but we're on generally high ground.


so i guess tornadoes, or lethal viruses.

[TransitJohn]

11. Train derailment.

Lots of nukular (hehe) and other toxic shit gets shipped by rail. Our community drills every year.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I am on Coastal Maine.. Our issues are ice storms and blizzards however

we have had minor hurricanes come through (no bigger than a 2 that I know of) and flooding can be an issue since we have a lot of saltwater and freshwater coastlines.

We had a nuclear reactor in Wiscasset. I am not sure if what is left down there is dangerous or not.

------------------------------------------------------
Save the Gulf:
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http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[maine_raptor]

21. What's left of Maine Yankee, GPV, is very harmless

just concrete and steel re-bar now.

Worry more about radon gas from granite in house foundations than MY.

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Thanks for the info. That makes me feel a wee bit better except now

I am wondering what they did with all the radioactive gunk? _some_body must be living near it. Or they left it lying around Iraq and Afghanistan as DU. *sigh*

------------------------------------------------------
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Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[jpak]

58. The spent fuel is still there (lots of it) and still dangerous

n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

94. Are you sure? :^(

------------------------------------------------------
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Then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[Impeach_Shrub]

117. You Mainers, and all the rest in New England

will suffer horrible heating bills this winter, and some who can't come up with the bucks will die, just like folks died in Phoenix this summer, because they couldn't afford A/C. Don't worry, Shrub and Condi Sleezy will be fine.

[GreenPartyVoter]

128. I am very worried about this. Same deal for the midwest too

------------------------------------------------------
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Then save the nation!
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[lse7581011]

145. Praying For A Mild Winter

last winter was a tough one! Lots of people in the area will be in serious trouble if they haven't pre-purchased their oil and this one is as bad!

[donco6]

I guess snow.

But in comparison, that's nothing.

[Kikosexy2]

14. L.A....

baby...earthquake capitol of the world!! Along with a very strong earthquake we can also experience a tsunami/floods and lots and lots of fires. And as populist as California is we're really in deep shit if we're not as prepared of such disasters. Stocking up on all essentials because Lord knows Beverly Hills and the west side will be assisted first over South Central and the east side.

[ronnykmarshall]

81. Same here too.

West Hollywood

[seabeyond]

15. tornados...... f5. cross my fingers and pray n/t

[movonne]

16. Tsunami and earthquakes....I keep a good water stock and food,

flashlight, batteries, radio, on and on.

[julialnyc]

17. blizzards or hurricanes

but not too bad............ The only hurricane which ever really hit us in Connecticut was Gloria (which was probably in the 80's). We can get some bad snow, but I think we live in a pretty weather temperate part of the country ( I just moved back from the Manhattan and while it's not even an hour away, the heat feels so much worse there......... but again much cooler than many places!)

[Neshanic]

18. Paradoxically...floods in Arizona. Huge ones in late 70's

Babbitt had to evacuate a large part of Phoenix at one time.

No earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes to speak of, blizzards, some issues with wildfires, but a rather benign place all in all.

[Horse with no Name]

38. I lived in Arizona when it flooded

I remember getting grounded for 6 months because I went with a friend and crossed the river to help swim their horses out.
It was coming down so fast that you could stand back and watch the water rise.
I was 14-15 at the time--wasn't scared of anything.
My parents had to drive all the way around the river to get me.

[TomInTib]

19. Earthquake... I am trying to learn to just fly away

San Francisco North Bay

[durablend]

20. deleted

(self delete)

[txindy]

22. Tornado, forest fire, or flood

Although the flooding would not affect my house, itself, it would restrict access. We'd be cut off.

[Roland99]

23. Either the Ohio River floods like it did in 1937, or the New Madrid fault

goes haywire.


To prepare? Well, for the Ohio River to flood like it did in 1937, we'd need about 20" of rain over a 24-48 hr period. Even then, it wouldn't affect me where I live.

As for the New Madrid, well, if she goes off enough to affect things here, it will be a huge disaster as a big chunk of the Midsouth will be in shambles.

[tx_dem41]

24. Rick Perry getting re-elected. n/t

[enlightenment]

25. Drought, maybe an earthquake

but most likely, an "unnatural" disaster, when the feds (and the other states -NIMBY lives) finish forcing Yucca Mountain down our collective throats.
So, I guess you can figure out where I live . . .

[Blue_In_AK]

26. Earthquake, no doubt, here in Anchorage.

It's happened before, it'll happen again. We had a 7.9 up here just three years ago, but luckily it was in the Interior and didn't have a human toll. We are personally stocked with food and water. My guess is Alaska would take care of its own, like they did in '64. If the Feds can't get help to the Gulf Coast, they sure as hell won't get any up here.

Coastal villages in western Alaska are falling into the ocean due to global warming, and the state has significant floods every spring, plus unprepared (or foolish) people freeze or are buried in avalanches every year.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the volcanoes. We've had three or four eruptions around here since I came up in 1975 that created a pretty big mess ... not anything that couldn't be coped with, though.

[Solon]

27. Let's see, Earthquake followed by the Mississippi flooding...

I live about 150 miles from the New Madrid fault system.

[craigolemiss]

28. Jon Stewart says L is for Locusts

so I have stopped all planning for anything but a plague of locusts

[JVS]

29. I could run out of beer after midnight!

[noahmijo]

30. More people from Orange County moving in

Sorry to poke fun :) but not too many natural disasters to be afraid of in Southern Az...

Sorry for those of you in tornado or earthquake country...

[LiveWire]

78. As an Orange County native...

I take offense to that. More people move into the OC than we care to like.

[noahmijo]

82. More rich Republicans from Orange County move to southern az than

I care to like.

[notadmblnd]

31. Tornado

altho I'm 46 and have yet to see one in my community. Ice storms are pretty common though. Around here is an old joke that you only have to worry about tornados if you live in a trailer park. But seriously, we are stocked up on food, house is built into the side of a hill, so we'don't sit up high the hill I bought a generator and had a 4 circuit transfer switch installed. One circuit is dedicated to the furnace, one to the kitchen and dining room and one to the basement. My parents live 30 miles north and still have a working well so we can go there. I keep both veichles full of gas at all times. firstaid kit kept close along with hurricane lamps batteries and transistor radios.

[boston bean]

32. Blizzards and coastal flooding.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

33. tornado or fire

We keep water in jerry cans, have a generator, battery operated lights, etc.

I predict the next big disaster will be the New Madrid earthquake, btw.

[Heddi]

36. Volcano or Earthquake

When Mt. st. Helens erupted back in 1980, the town I currently live in was under several inches of ash and the sky was black for days. Also, Washington is earthquake prone.

Oh and Mt.Rainier is closer than Mt. St Helens, then there's Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams....aye...the lovely Pacific Northwest :)

[HereSince1628]

37. A large meteorite/tiny asteroid impact in Lake Michigan

I'd say a large meteor/tiny asteroid impact in Wauwatosa, but it wouldn't matter at all to me.

We are probably most susceptible to Tornadoes, Heavy Snow.

[Seabiscuit]

43. China Syndrome - from nearby nuclear plant.

Well, it's at least 40 miles north of here, but after what happened last week we know we're just on our own in the event of a nuclear meltdown.

[Seabiscuit]

46. More likely - forest fires that finally reach the ocean.

They came fairly close in 2003.

[Vinca]

45. Natural disaster? A blizzard. We have a generator and AWD to

get in and out. Man made disaster is a different ball game. We live a few miles from a nuclear plant. The only plan we have is get the cats, stuff them in their carriers and get the hell out.

[Sparkman]

47. West Coast Tectonic Plate Shifting into the drink, new LasVegas coastline.

[[e-mail]]

48. The state could become RED

everything we can deal with
live in MN

[Zynx]

50. Tornado or really nasty blizzard.

Madison is not really in danger of flooding or anything like that.

[barb162]

112. Hi neighbor (cheesehead)

I forgot about blizzards; I don't even think of them as a natural disasters as the structures are building- coded to withstand collapse from snow, etc. To me blizzards are just something to get through

[Left Is Write]

52. Earthquake or ice storm.

Tornadoes are very rare here, and though we do get the occasional snowstorm, I've never seen anything blizzard level here, and it usually melts in about a day.

No hurricanes. Once in a while there is nuisance-level flooding, but nothing catastrophic.

[Piperay]

53. Earthquakes, fires, floods, gangs

I live in California. I'm gonna get my guns out that is how I'm preparing. :sarcasm: Actually forget the sarcasm obviously we have to look out after ourselves, no one else is going to.

[treading_water]

54. Portland, Oregon

Volcano (Mt. Hood, Mt St. Helens) accompanied by flooding and ashfall.

Flooding and landslides (due to excessive rains and clear cut logging).

Wild fires, drought.

Tsunamis and extratropical wave cyclones on the coast (i.e. Columbus Day storm).

[Roxy66]

137. Mt. Rainer could blow soon too

[B Calm]

55. I think in this area of Indiana it would have to be

a tornado. Many people don't realize but, we are stitting on an earthquake fault here. It's reported if we have a really big earthquake it could drain the great lakes into the gulf of mexico.

[B Calm]

63. Psychic Edgar Cayce predicted the Great Lakes would drain into

the Gulf of Mexico after a great eathquake..

http://www.newagedirectory.com/pro/edgar_cayce.htm

[CabalPowered]

56. Yellowstone eruption.

Haven't found a contigency plan for that one yet.

[Occulus]

59. There isn't one.

If that blew, well.... let's just say nothing much would really matter afterward.

[enigami]

60. we all die n/t

[Drewskie]

57. meteorite

Meteor is worst that can happen anywhere, of course. Here? A bad tornado would be by far the most likely.

[H2O Man]

61. We have had a tornado

come through every couple of years. But, other than winter storms, the weather here is something to be thankful for. A lack of water poses more of a threat some years than anything else.

If all electricity stopped, and there was no more gas or oil, I could live in relative comfort compared to most of the country.

[Occulus]

62. Either a tornado, or a severe ice storm

and I've lived through the ice storm, and the tornado that hit the town I'm currently living in happened twenty-odd years ago.

Good GOD, though... that ice storm.... such deadly beauty... it was completely unearthly, and ohhhh so dangerous. Half an inch of ice or more on everything, up to an inch in some places. It hit New Year's Eve, 1984/1985. Hundreds of thousands without power for weeks. Flushing our toilet with creek water. Heating the whole house with a little natural gas heater. Canned food cooked on a camp stove. Freezing the meat in the snow and ice outside.

I nearly died in that storm when my dad and I were walking down the street. Suddenly, a limb from an old oak tree- a limb about two FEET in diameter- crashed into the street not twenty feet in front of us.

I won't ever forget that storm. This was in SW Michigan.

http://www.consumersenergy.com/welcome.htm?/ocompany/index.asp?ASID=395

[gollygee]

74. Oh yeah - ice storms

why did I forget that?

I remember the NYE ice storm too.

We had a bad October snow/icy snow storm that was as bad though. Our power was out for 5 or 6 days. I was pregnant so that must have been 2001.

Brrrrrrr.

[mark11727]

64. Long Island got pretty messed up when Hurricane Gloria hit...

...and that was only a Category 1 hurricane.

I heard that IF we were ever hit with a Category 3 or greater, we'd lose half the island (but what's the chances of that happening this far north?).

On the other hand, we have had some pretty nasty blizzards.

[JHB]

107. Gloria hit at low tide, so we lucked out...

...with a lot less flooding than there might have been.

I think the claim of losingn half the island in a cat 3 is a bit excessive, but it would do some serious damage. Just remember LI has taken some big hits historically.

The big 1938 hurricane submerged parts of the east end. One of the survivors was washed from one of the Hamptons all the way to Connecticut. Plenty of Bushisms in that storm too, like wealthy summer-crowders hopping in the car to evacuate...and leaving the servants behind.

Also Google "Hog island"+"Tammany": a whole resort island near the Rockaways, a retreat for the Tammany Hall boys, was washed away back in the 1800s.

On the other hand, don't mention LI's blizzards to anyone from Buffalo -- they might die from hysterical laughter ;)

[mark11727]

130. Roger that on the blizzards ---

I spent four years in a SUNY college upstate (with some great winters on Lake Ontario, hoo!) and when I used to come home for the holidays, I'd say "hell, we don't even bother putting on SHOES for this stuff!"

But I was younger then. Now I'm in the market for a snow-thrower.

[necso]

65. A bad earthquake

that starts fires in the wreckage, etc, and that happens during "fire" weather. The (likely) multiple starting points and the proximity of the fires, combined with adverse weather conditions, ruptured water lines, impassable roads, no power, etc, would make for difficult conditions. (Fires and earthquakes are the major (reasonably expected -- and natural) threats, and some combination of the two is the worst threat overall.)

But if this old shack doesn't fall on my head (a rather iffy proposition, admittedly), then I should have the resources to deal with the situation (including stuff like a new carbide-toothed chain for cutting up wreckage) -- or at least make a respectable effort in that direction. My neighbors and I have, however, have made fairly elaborate preparations (water supplies, pumps, hoses, fire-retardant, etc).

And, of course, there are other potential threats (asteroids could be bad) -- but this is the worst likely one -- at least that I could do much about.

[TrogL]

66. Tornado

Already been through one.

Community banned together to get people through.

I spent the first night manning a roadblock and the second night looking for bodies/injured (didn't find any) and unsecured firearms (found some rifles).

[Name removed]

67. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gollygee]

68. Blizzard is worst, tornado second, floods third b/c they don't happen

often at all but it would be very bad if we got a bad flood.

[tsuki]

69. Hurricane with surge. Been prepared all my life.

Will not live on the Beach or near water. High and Dry. Six bottle of clorox. Jugs of Ice. Can goods. Propane. Candles. Generator. Shutters. Full vehicles.

[justiceischeap]

70. Hampton Roads, VA Hurricane/Flooding (eom)

[wellstone_democrat]

71. Tornado---but I'm in Bush*'s home region!

lovely west Texas where the "white people," the "religious people" and the "flag flyers" raise all of those categories to *professional* status.

We could get a tornado but we'd get help! Seriously, there is no way they'd let the "buckle of the Bible Belt" go down---this is the absolutely distillation of their "base" and they'd need to show that THOSE people can depend on Christ-Almighty-Bush*

The wife and I? We are Dems, we don't go to church, we KNOW we'd be left on our own. We have a big-assed emergency kit in the process of being collected!

Mr. W_D

[Totally Committed]

72. MA = Blizzards, definitely. n/t

TC

[Scout]

73. tornado ... maybe some flooding nearby

southeast lower Michigan.

I haven't really done much, but we are used to living with threat of tornado. I live in a trailer, and plan to run to my sister's house, that has a basement. She is east of us, and tornadoes usually would be coming from the west. We have good warning siren system. I've only left home twice in 17 years.

[amandabeech]

141. What about blizzards and ice storms?

I grew up in West Michigan near Lake Michigan and went to college in Ann Arbor. I remember some nasty versions of both those, and my Mom, who still lives where I grew up, is prepared for both.

[sandnsea]

75. Flood, tsunami, or being stranded

Mud slides have blocked all exits once before I've heard, yikes! Most likely disaster is a flood and I'm not in a flood area. I still have an emergency kit and all my memorables in one location for quick exit though.

[CitySky]

76. floods,

followed by tornadoes.

The devastation of flooding in Houston is far more widespread (cf Allison a few years back) than the few buildings that get demolished by a typical twister.

In any heavy rain, major freeway arteries here flood. It once took me 2 1/2 hours to make a normally 20-minute drive home from work because of flooding on feeder roads and resultant traffic backup. We just don't have proper drainage & runoff control. No zoning whatsoever. Last time we had "high water" from a downpour, I recall a young woman died when a couple stayed in their truck with the motor running. They didn't realize that, with the tailpipe underwater, they were breathing carbon monoxide. They rescued the unconscious guy in time, but for the woman it was too late.

Now, mind you, I grew up in earthquake & fire country. Lived through the Oakland Hills fire in 1991 and many earthquakes in both Northern and Southern California. Slept with sturdy shoes next to the bed. But here, it's flooding we need to worry about the most.

[LiveWire]

77. Falling into the sea

The college city of Isla Vista is located right on the cliff face facing the Pacific ocean. Geologists and city officials have already condemed many of the cliff side apartments that make up the city. Other than that, we remain a city of poor college kids, and Mexican immigrants who either go to school at UCSB or work for the richer comunity of Santa Barbara.

[mvd]

79. Probably tornado

It's just a moderate risk, but the mid-Atlantic states seem to get more than they used to. We have flooding, but I'm on higher ground. We can get the remnants of hurricanes here.

The Limerick nuclear power plant worries me more than a natural disaster - just the small chance of it malfunctioning or being attacked would cause a tragedy.

[SteveIrving1]

80. Massive Fire...

It's very dry here in Tuolumne County. Most of the vegetation die in May and we have Fire Fighters who are as incompetent as Bush.

[stevedeshazer]

83. The South Sister Bulge

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/112591804578620.xml&coll=7

[Loge23]

85. S.E. Florida

need I say more?

[Catchawave]

86. A Cat 3-5 hurricane.

The Norfolk area was ravaged and flooded with barely a Cat 1 (Isabel). Though we're above the flood zone, a higher Cat would probably blow my house down!

We have a generator, but have never lost power because we're on God's Grid (Pat Robertson's CBN is nearby!)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

87. Tornado or

something not good happening at this place NE of town. :-(

[ProfessorGAC]

89. Same Here

We've got a river running through the center of town. We had a bad flood in 1984, when my wife and i lived on the island. (It's connected by two bridges.) It was pretty darned bad, but obviously, nothing like New Orleans.

Tornados blew away the house we lived in when in was in High School and College. My parents had moved a couple years prior. But, it was pretty bad too!

But, i just don't see, even in a city of 100k+, the level of destruction from one tornado or a flood in my little town, that would even compare to what happened down there.
The Professor

[mtnester]

90. Tornado, Ice Storm/blizzard, and YES, one day EARTHQUAKES

Live in Ohio, Right near the New Madrid fault line area. One day, the Misissipi River will change course again.

[Cleita]

93. Three things:

A magnitude 7 or more earthquake followed by a tidal wave. We are always as prepared as we can be.

A brush fire, over due in our area, can't do anything but run.

A meltdown at the nearby nuclear plant. I dunno. I guess bend over and kiss your ass goodby.

[slackmaster]

95. Zombie attack

I'm ready for 'em.

[anarch]

98. speaking from DC...it's already happened here, and it's terrible

"Grrrrr! Aaaargh!"

[stevedeshazer]

126. Now THAT'S a disaster! n/t

[deadparrot]

97. Earthquake.

Right atop the New Madrid Fault, we are.

Tornadoes, maybe, floods we've had, but there's been a massive earthquake predicted in our area for years now.

[eleny]

The giant blast in Yellowstone will make Colorado ashes

The more immediate is blizzards and tornados.

[youthere]

99. Tornado

[Poiuyt]

100. In Wisconsin, probably tornados

We get blizzards, but we usually take those in stride. If it's a bad snowstorm, you'll see people helping other people quite a bit.

[Greybnk48]

136. In my area of WI, I also fear the trains

they crisscross the city of 75,000 I live in, right through the middle and they haul all sorts of nasty chemicals. A few years back one derailed in a neighboring town and the people were made to evacuate for over a week. They were not permitted to take their animals and many died.

[Poiuyt]

140. I remember that

The director of our local Red Cross chapter started smoking again from all the stress.

[tnlefty]

103. Tornado (possible), something happening to the local nuke

plant. In the case of some storm (tornado, strong cell - mini-tornado, ice, etc.), food and water. If something happens to the nuke plant we've decided to forego the evac plans and just go out and breath deeply. I fought my spouse about this idea for years, but I have come around to the realization that it might be better to speed things along as opposed to dying over a period of time.

[mirror wall]

104. I'm suprised nobody's mentioned the Yellowstone Supervolcano yet.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera

It has a habit of erupting every 600k years or so, and it's overdue to the tune of 40k years right now.

If that thing blew, this whole country would be at least some sort of HOLY GOD SCREWED. It would also have a devastating impact on the global climate, perhaps inciting conditions similar to "nuclear winter".

I'm not sure how far the immediate killzone extends, but I do recall hearing somewhere that even outside of that radius, millions of people not instantly incinerated/crushed/etc. would die a certain death due to inhalation of toxic airborne particles.

So that's what I worry about, mostly. If it did blow, I would probably try to truck it to Canada and then go and stay with friends in Japan if at all possible. Since that's about as far away as you can get from the unbreathable mess the air on this side of the globe would devolve into.

Other than that, in MN there's really not that much more to trouble the mind. There's the potential for wickedly bad winters, the possibly the Mississippi might get it in its head to go on a bit of a rampage or something, and there's always the threat of a bad ole tornado.

But all of that's nothing compared to hurricanes, earthquakes, and, of course, supervolcanos.

[Impeach_Shrub]

106. My community has already suffered the all time worst possible disaster

which was the permanent suspension of our voting rights and the theft of the last 2 cycles of presidential pseudo-elections.

[barb162]

108. same here; tornado and flood

It's good to have a basement in this area for tornados. Flood, nothing as this house withstood a very very major flood

[JHB]

109. Massive asteroid strike

You asked for "worst possible" :evilgrin:
That'd be it.

[meisje]

113. Columbus,Ohio - Crack Shortage

[Impeach_Shrub]

120. LOL, N/T

[Armstead]

114. Winter

Blizzards and frigid spells.

[DawgHouse]

115. Hurricanes

[Individualist]

116. Tornado or flood

Tornadoes are rare where I live, so odds are that I'm pretty safe from them. In 1998, seven people died in a flash flood in my county. Although I live only four blocks from the river that flooded, I'm on the uphill side.

[Impeach_Shrub]

118. It occurs to me that as disasters go, Katrina cannot be

thought of as wholly natural, or as Bill Mahar has said, "that storm was on steroids!" (Steroids supplied by Chaney's secret energy deals, and Shrubs stupidest mantra, "There is no global warming!") Not only was the storm on steroids, the levees were already on the verge of crumbling, they were known to need repair, and the federal funds to renovate them was cut 3 years in a row. It also occurs to me that the next (unnatural) disaster may strike us all simultaneously, as when Shrub and Big Dick are all done manipulating the stock market, Ken Lay style, and the thing crashes. Our currency is already rapidly growing more and more worthless.

[ironflange]

121. Hailstorms

We've had some pretty expensive ones, I understand that this area is the hailstorm capitol of the world. We had a flood here in the spring after record rains, and the odd tornado shows up.

[restorefreedom]

122. blizzard or hurricane

hurricane less likely in northeast but still..

I hope to hell our governor has his shit together..

feds are useless

[Hello_Kitty]

123. Fires, but not a huge risk since Phoenix is in a valley.

And fires like to go uphill.

[Princess Turandot]

124. Any responses from NYC?..

I did not see any.

Supposedly, there are some seismic faults under NYC but scientists have a hard time evaluating the likelihood of them moving for reasons beyond my understanding.

I live about 3 miles north of the bottom of Manhattan, and maybe 1/8 of a mile from the East River. I'm probably 100 feet from ground level. My building is blocked from winds because of where it is located.

Could an earthquake cause a tsunami that would rush up this far and seriously damage my building? I have no idea.

I'm avoiding man-caused disasters for obvious reasons. If the tunnels & bridges coming into the city were destroyed, we'd have a big problem because a lot of our food is trucked in. Also, we receive our water from a series of reservoirs starting in upstate NY, so disruptions upstate could affect our water supply. If you live in a building higher than 5 stories or so in NYC, you cannot get water up that high without pumps, which need electricity. The water is pumped to tanks on top of the building, then it comes down thru the pipes. So, I have quite a few liters of water stored in various closets of my apartment. That helped during the blackout last summer. I've got battery powered lamps, batteries candles and that sort of stuff.

I have been held up twice, even if I've never seen a tornado! Once at gunpoint, once at knifepoint. (Both happened a long time ago.)
The guy with the knife was very well mannered: he only asked me for $20. I actually probably could have gotten away from him but figured it wasn't worth it. I'll take urban risks over Mother Nature though!

[Lecky]

125. I live in Charleston, SC

So hurricane season always has this city's attention, we are also located on a fault...but we haven't suffered an earthquake for over 100 years (which was estimated to be a 6.6 to 7.3 on the Richter scale)

:knocks on wood:

Just your basic natural disasters...hurricanes and earthquakes :)

[hiaasenrocks]

133. Charleston here, too.

Since we're subject to earthquakes, I suppose you could throw in tsunami as well. Which is why I always worry about the "boom" off the ocean, the legend called "The Seneca Guns" or something like that.

But seriously, I would say hurricanes are the big threat here.

:keeps eye on Ophelia:

[Lecky]

134. Well Welcome to DU!

Nice to see a fellow Charlestonian :)

:hi:

At least we are lucky to have such nice weather most of the time (besides the humidity of course).

[banana republican]

127. Mt. Rainier going Volcanic

or any of the other NW volcanos for that matter...

Look @ what St. Helens did.....

[AnnieBW]

129. DC/Baltimore Area - Blizzard or Hurricane

In the DC/Baltimore area, we had 36 inches of snow in less than a week back in 1994. It paralyzed the whole area. Of course, we're talking about a town where people panic for 1/2 inch of snow. :D

However, a worse thing would be a hurricane making landfall somewhere around VA Beach, then going up the Chesapeake Bay. That scenario happened with Isabel two years ago. Fortunately, the damage wasn't catastrophic, but it was nasty enough. We still have people whose homes are screwed up because of Isabel two years later! Not to mention that FEMA recently demanded money back from these people for overpayment!

[put out]

131. Kansas/Missouri state line.

Tornados. Ice storms. Floods. Power failures that last for a long time. Nature will find a way.

I have a package and a plan, and we will be hunkering down and commune with the spiders and snakes if we need to do it. We will share, they don't eat much.

Else, we get out of town. We will get a way to go. We will be lucky enough to find another place, to get another start, or just start everything up again. Others wouldn't have the resources.

And this, it makes me feel ill. I can do it, and take my family with me. Other people couldn't. They can't even now.

[Mein Bush]

132. So far the worst has been Bush surviving childhood!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

135. Supernova maybe

If a supernova occurred in a nearby region of the galaxy I think I'd be a bit concerned.

But seriously, a major earthquake destroying the nearby nuclear powerplant at San Onofre would be a major disaster. Since the freeways would be absolutely and terminally choked with millions of cars in southern California in the resultant panic, my best bet would probably be to buy a small motorbike that can go between and around cars as well as off-road.

[Ladyhawk]

138. Fire...maybe earthquake. I'm unprepared. :(

You'd think after the fire in my neighbor's apartment last year, I'd be more ready, wouldn't you? Sigh.

[Lorien]

139. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, Diebold

(oops-that last one was UNnatural)!

I live in Florida. :-(

[pippin]

142. Southern California

Fires and Earthquakes.

[pippin]

143. Southern California

Fires and Earthquakes. Recently, torrential rains, floods and mudslides.

[CatBoreal]

144. From Kapuskasing Ontario:

The worst I have to worry about would be a blizzard or ice storm.

Possibly some flooding from the river, but it's not a major tributary so there would have to something major to cause that.

[politicat]

147. 1. Ashfall from a Yellowstone caldera eruption.

2. Underground coal fire flaring up.
3. Drought.
4. Tornadoes.
5. Wind Shear.
6. Dick Cheney farting into a wind blowing north to south.
7. Tom Tancredo.
8. Wayne Allerd.
9. Blizzards.

For the first several we have an emergency kit built into a rolling strong-box and keep a suitcase packed with sturdy, serviceable clothing, boots, gloves and important documents. We only have laptops, so we won't be without a computer if worse comes to worse.

We keep gas in the tank and have high res USGS maps of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska to get out if it comes to that. We keep the kitty carriers easily accessible and can convert the kit into a walkable kit in about 10 minutes (and still take the kitties) so if for some reason we have to get on a plane or in a train, we can do so. We can also walk to safety if we have to.

For the latter 4, we just hunker down and wait for them to blow themselves out. They nearly always do....