Hurricane Katrina

That is why I am still in the the "great" northeast. Quite simply, I like my stuff too much - between the hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, snow and temperature extremes found elsewhere, I'm starting to think it isn't such a bad place after all. (I figure if I keep telling myself that, I'll believe it one of these days, lol)

another point about evacuation. DID YA SEE THE TRAFFIC PICTURES?? Imagine spending $2.50+/gallon of gas to sit in a parking lot, just enough flow that you can't shut the car off. and if gas was being rationed too, people were probably running out right there while they were waiting

There was ample warning.

I am not too proud to sleep in my car and bathe in sinks at rest areas and gas stations. Nothing I own is more precious than my life or the lives of my children. How I would transport my snakes would be the big question. I don't think I have that many pillow cases.

Originally Posted by hhmoore

That is why I am still in the the "great" northeast. Quite simply, I like my stuff too much - between the hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, snow and temperature extremes found elsewhere, I'm starting to think it isn't such a bad place after all. (I figure if I keep telling myself that, I'll believe it one of these days, lol)

Perhaps you have forgotten the April 2002 earthquake...

5.1 Earthquake Rattles Northeast

By VERENA DOBNIK
.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - An earthquake felt from Maine to Maryland rattled the
Northeast on Saturday morning with a magnitude of 5.1, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey.

The earthquake hit just before 7 a.m. about 15 miles southwest of
Plattsburgh, in northern New York near the Vermont and Canadian borders.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the Vermont State Police
received calls about cracked foundations and broken windows, and sections of
at least two roads collapsed near the epicenter in upstate New York.

Sandy Caligiore, of Lake Placid, about 35 miles southwest of Plattsburgh,
said he felt the shaking for about 30 seconds. It was so strong, decorations
were falling off the walls, he said.

``I was getting out of the shower and the mirror was shaking. The whole house
was shaking,'' said Darlene Conklin, who lives in Hopewell Junction, about 60
miles north of New York City. ``My husband was watching TV, and he felt the
couch shaking. You could see the doors shaking, the walls trembling.''

The earthquake was recorded at 6:50 a.m., said William Ott, a seismologist at
Weston Observatory at Boston College.

He said the quake was ``moderate.'' A typical 5.1 earthquake would cause
cracked plaster, broken windows and minor structural damage around the
epicenter, he said.

``There are faults all over the northeastern United States,'' Ott said.
``They're not as active as the ones in California, but they're capable of
producing earthquakes of this size from time to time.''

The largest earthquake recorded in New York, according to the USGS, was a 5.8
magnitude quake in 1944 that was centered in Massena, about 3 miles from the
Canadian border.

Won Young Kim, a seismologist with Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth
Observatory, said there was a magnitude 5.2 quake in 1993, about 50 miles
south of Saturday's epicenter. He said a magnitude 3.5 quake occurred just
south of Plattsburgh on April 20, 2000.

Reports of the shaking Saturday came from as far away as Baltimore, Toronto
and Portland, Maine. The USGS National Earthquake Information Center measured
the earthquake's depth at 3.1 miles.

Kathleen Morrow, 31, of Northfield, in central Vermont, said the jolt woke
her husband up and the shaking continued for several seconds.

``I had my feet on the floor ready to leave the house if it was going to be
continuing or stronger,'' she said.

I remember feeling it in Dunstable, Massachusetts and hearing the plates rattle in the cabinets. Not a strong one, but it can happen.

Maybe you've also forgotten Hurricane Gloria in the mid-1980's? I lived in Boston at the time and my power was out for several days.

Oh, and then there was the 1995 tornado in Great Barrington, MA (not far from you).

The May 29, 1995, Great Barrington tornado will go down in history as one of Western Massachusetts' strongest and most destructive storms.

According to National Weather Service reports, a thunderstorm developed over Central New York (just northwest of Binghamton) around 3:30pm on May 29, 1995. This is the storm that would eventually produce the Great Barrington Tornado. The first tornado that this storm would produce developed over the Hudson Valley of New York at around 6:40pm. That tornado would dissipate for a short period of time, only to redevelop just east of the Massachusetts border. This is the tornado that would rip through Great Barrington. In fact, the winds of this tornado would rip apart buildings on the Great Barrington Fairgrounds and topple trees in the surrounding woods. 27 people were injured and 3 killed as a result of the storm.

The storm was an F4 tornado on the Fujita Scale Of Tornado Intensity. Using the Fujita Scale, meteorologists can estimate the wind speed of a tornado by examining the damage it creates. An F5 on the Fujita scale would have winds of 207- 260mph. An F5 would level well constructed houses, throw cars and other large objects some distance.

Bottom line...few places are safe from the destructive forces of mother nature.

Yes Jim, of course you are correct. HOWEVER.....there are fewer natural disasters and they are of lesser severity in the northern areas.

The lower mid west has flood and tornados, the south east has hurricanes, the west has earthquakes. This is well known.

Michigan has tornados, blizzards, and earthquakes, and some incredible thunderstorms. How often does the rest of the country hear anything about it? Not severe enough to bother.

The worst thing that has happened to me up here was losing power in a snow storm and having to move all the reptiles into the kitchen to heat them with the gas stove.

You might not freeze to death in the south, but I can put more clothes on and build a fire. What are you going to do when your house is underwater?

I think Shelly is just peeved that the storm wasn't named Kiote .

Originally Posted by DAND

I think Shelly is just peeved that the storm wasn't named Kiote .

Well hello David! How's it going?

You know no one would dare to name anything that tame after me.

See you at Taylor!

Originally Posted by kiote9

What are you going to do when your house is underwater?

Swim? What are you going to do when yours is flattened by a twister? Statistically perhaps more likely given the topography of my location with respect to sea level. It would take a 30 foot storm surge (at least, probably more like 40) to reach the bottom of my front steps. MY house is made of brick and is designed to withstand a category 3-4 hurricane. My windows would blow out but if my house floods then everyone else is under water.

Seriously, the risk is overrated unless you are in a flood zone. I am well above the 100 year flood line (I am pretty near to the highest natural elevation in Virginia Beach). When we got hit with a hurricane two years ago I lost a few shingles and a few trees came down. One house that I own is in a flood zone and guess what? It flooded. With a little under two feet of water (what a pain in the ass fixing that was with FEMA's paltry flood iinsurance settlement and pesky city inspectors nickle and diming us). And that storm hit here exactly at high tide. You couldn't pay me enough to live below sea level in New Orleans or in places where, when hurricanes hit, they hit with a vengeance from having been over the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Notice that they real killer hurricanes, with the exception Hugo (which demolished Charleston, SC) tend to hit areas around that body of water. One of the worst was the one that washed away a good bit of Galveston, TX about 100 years ago. What did the fools do? They rebuilt it. LOL.

Originally Posted by Jim O

Swim? What are you going to do when yours is flattened by a twister?

Where to start....1980 would be good. Tornado ripped through downtown Kalamazoo. Did a tremendous amount of damage. I was 14 years old.

Where was I when it hit? Standing in the front yard wondering why the rain stopped. The sun was shining, then the hail started.....I lived 2 miles from downtown. (People don't have any great tendency to educate children as to warning signs of weather.) We went downtown the next morning to survey the damage, and to take me to the doctor as I was vey ill. Nobody died.

1983 I was in Flint visiting relatives. Sitting in the living room reading when the storm hit. My uncle and husband were in the diningroom watching the storm to see if the trees would get knocked into the pool when they made odd exclamations and walked through the living room to look out the front window. A tornado had come through the backyard, jumped over the house and landed on the movie theater 150 yards away. There were blades of grass embedded in the aluminum siding. I never heard a thing.

What, me worry?

Jim.
Actually, I had forgotten about that earthquake. More precisely, I never even noticed it - I was either at work, or asleep at the time. I know we're not totally safe anywhere, it just seems that the frequency and severity of the horrible stuff is less here. Sure, we get snow, but not like MN; hot weather, but not typically as extreme as the south or west; tornadoes, occasionally. Right now, between my dogs and snakes, moving would be a pretty big hassle, so I'm gonna keep telling myself that this is the place to be. And that doesn't mean I can't take the occasional road trip!