Natural Disasters

[GH85Carrera]

The recent flooding in Colorado is just mind boggling. I have an acquaintance that may not be able to even get to their house until next spring. The house has only minor damage but every road into the area is damaged. I can't imagine knowing my house is there and and I can't get to it.

The recent massive fires in California and the "super storm" Sandy in New Jersey are very devastating and so expensive.

We had a few tornadoes this spring. The largest tornado ever on the planet, 2.6 miles wide, and the F5 that hit Moore.

Tornadoes of 2013 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I read that Hawaii is the place with the fewest natural disasters.

I was shocked 103 people have died in 2012 from tornadoes but only 45 in the USA. I have heard that every county in the lower 48 states has had at least one tornado.

Bee stings kill over 50 people per year. 31 people die from dog attacks.

I guess my point is every place has some sort of natural disasters. The recent floods are just the latest.

[HardDrive]

The destruction and loss of life from the tsunamis is something thats hard to get ones head around.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

The destruction and loss of life from the tsunamis is something thats hard to get ones head around.

Yea, Japan's recent disaster is hard to grasp how overwhelming it is. That is one disaster that we are immune to around here.

Hurricanes never sneak up on anyone. Earthquakes give a few tenths of a second and tsunamis give a few minutes.

The couple I know in the Boulder area were smart enough to listen to the evacuation order. They still don't know if they have a house to go back to when the roads are rebuilt.

[enzo1]

Disaster in the Rockies: The Story of the Flood Airs Tonight 8/7c - weather.com Watch 'Disaster in the Rockies' Tonight

[onewhippedpuppy]

As I'm sure you know Glen, this was actually a mild tornado season. Not taking anything away from the hell that some folks in OK went through, but it was significantly less active than normal.

The wildfires are unfortunate because we contribute to it. We stop the little fires because of the threat to people, and eventually the fuel build up reaches critical mass and we get these massive devastating blazes. We aren't letting nature take its course.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

The destruction and loss of life from the tsunamis is something thats hard to get ones head around.

What's as amazing as the amount of damage is the relatively small loss of life in Japan compared to the Indonesian tsunami.

Japan

On 12 September 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,883 deaths,[22] 6,146 injured,[23] and 2,654 people missing

The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture,[16][17] and which, in the Sendai area, traveled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland.[18] The earthquake moved Honshu (the main island of Japan) 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in).

Indonesia

killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high

There are a bunch of factors that would cause the massive difference, the readiness of the area, but the difference is still impressive, more than a 10 fold increase.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I read that Hawaii is the place with the fewest natural disasters.

Different places have different sorts of disasters, and some are easier to predict and avoid (flood plains, tho only some of the Colo. flooding involved that).

We have very good predictability of what disasters will strike where in the US, but that does not mean people pay attention - e.g. large parts of Seattle will be destroyed by lahars but people are not moving away from those areas.

We also know that large parts of Hawaii will be destroyed by flooding, not to mention Florida and southern Manhattan.

Similarly, we know where tornados are going to hit, yet popn is going up in those areas (partly b/c of renewed oil & gas activity).

If you do want to occupy a disaster prone area, there are often things you can do, from stronger or more flexible buildings in earthquake zones, to evac. planning. I'd bet that the relatively small loss of life in Japan compared to the Indonesian tsunami is due to dectection capabilities, warnings, building design and other investments they made.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Different places have different sorts of disasters, and some are easier to predict and avoid (flood plains, tho only some of the Colo. flooding involved that).

We have very good predictability of what disasters will strike where in the US, but that does not mean people pay attention - e.g. large parts of Seattle will be destroyed by lahars but people are not moving away from those areas.

We also know that large parts of Hawaii will be destroyed by flooding, not to mention Florida and southern Manhattan.

Similarly, we know where tornados are going to hit, yet popn is going up in those areas (partly b/c of renewed oil & gas activity).

If you do want to occupy a disaster prone area, there are often things you can do, from stronger or more flexible buildings in earthquake zones, to evac. planning. I'd bet that the relatively small loss of life in Japan compared to the Indonesian tsunami is due to dectection capabilities, warnings, building design and other investments they made.

You can predict all that stuff? We need to get you a TV show on the Weather Channel.

[RWebb]

Scientists routinely predict "all that stuff"

You should get out more

[GH85Carrera]

We usually get several days to a week of warning that a day will be full of bad weather. As it gets close they pinpoint the storms.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Scientists routinely predict "all that stuff"



You should get out more

They predict in broad strokes, such as severe weather being possible over a region. For instance, today they identified a swath from OK up through KS and up into IL as possible for hail and wind. Not exactly pinpoint. As for the others, I'd like to see the prediction that large parts of HI, FL, and Manhattan island will be under water. Not "possible in the next 200 years". Tangible please, otherwise it's a prediction that I could make.

[RWebb]

well sure - sorta like predicting a crack failure - no one will tell you which flight it will fail on

here is the 4 second response to your query:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/24/opinion/sunday/what-could-disappear.html

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RWebb

well sure - sorta like predicting a crack failure - no one will tell you which flight it will fail on

here is the 4 second response to your query:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/24/opinion/sunday/what-could-disappear.html

I wouldn't call that a "good" prediction. That article is what "could" happen over the course of centuries as a result of "predicted" climate change. I don't think that's going to force anyone to board up lower Manhattan.

[RWebb]

depends on what you mean by "board up"

several big firms have moved electrical and other critical equipment up in their buildings b/c they know there will be other big storms in the future

I will avoid flying on anything built where some engineer designed its safety systems to work over the course of thousands of flight hours as a result of "predicted" failure modes

- do you not get it?

[RWebb]

We know XXX, but we still do YYY

Here is a good summary on wildfires with some other things in it, and also some pics of fire scientists at work

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/magazine/into-the-wildfire.html?hp&_r=0

[Bill Douglas]

Obama's fault. All these natrual disasters ya know.

[Tobra]

Matt, two things.

1. You really should not poke it with a stick
2. You will respect his authoritah

Everyplace has there natural calamities. I lived in SF when the '89 quake happened. When I moved to Texas for my residency, everyone wanted to know about earthquakes, how could I stand to live in California with those. This was 10 years after Hurricane Alicia, which kicked Texas' ass for a week. If you get a hurricane, you get tornadoes, flooding, dogs and cats living together, real wrath of God stuff.


An earthquake lasts like a minute.

You pay your money and take your chances.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by Tobra

An earthquake lasts like a minute.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm getting quite good at them. We've had some big ones recently. One day a lady stopped her car and started walking around it looking at tires thinking she had a flat LOL.

[Geary]

Two interesting things about the Japan tidal wave:

It occurred a mere 7 years after the Indonesian disaster. Never before has so little time elapsed between major tsunamis.

It was comprised of two separate waves, which stacked upon each other as they hit shore .. also a first in recorded history. This story was reported in Yahoo news, but pulled pretty quickly.

Coincidentally, I had read about Project Seal even before Japan .. a 1941 project taken over by US DoD in 1944.

Tsunami bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GH85Carrera]

The local weatherman was just discussing the big Yukon, OK May 31 tornado. The data now shows it is as 4.3 miles wide! It had 4 sub tornadoes and some of them were moving at across the ground at 180 miles an hour. the main tornado has confirmed winds of 255 and with more data crunching possible winds of 330. What a freak of nature that thing was.

That is not the one that hit Moore, that was a single tornado.