The Forgotten Question Of The Day For Wednesday, August 6, 2017

[Mamanyt1953]

I am SO sorry! This dratted storm (Irma) has just totally thrown me for a loop. I have friends who live in the islands, and I have no clue what has happened to them, and a son who lives in Tampa, and was fretting about him, was trying to get to the store since it's headed more or less my way, and I JUST PLAIN FORGOT!

SO...in that vein, and if you will forgive me,

What natural disaster is the scariest to you?

For me, wildfire. That's the one that you just have so little chance of surviving if you get caught in it. Some chance, but it is tiny. I worry so about our folks who live in fire zone!

 

[artiemom]

I think it is a huge blizzard, but I have lived through quiet a few blizzards. I dislike losing electricity and heat.. heat especially in the winter.. I cannot stand being cold. and the clean up from the snow is depressing...

I think all natural disasters are bad.. I honestly do not think there is any exact one which is to be the worst.. these are all things to keep us on our toes...

Earthquakes are unpredicted...that could be something..

 

[dahli6]

I live in South Carolina now. Expecting wind and rain too.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest though and my Uncle was one of the geologists who studied Mt. St. Helens, don't worry he is fine.
I think I am torn between volcanoes and tsunami's. They are both so destructive and awesomely terrifying. I have honestly faced a wall of water, it was about 13 ft high... to me they are both kind of the same. They devour everything, they change the landscape, they can both suffocate a person.

 

[artiemom]

I live in South Carolina now. Expecting wind and rain too.
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest though and my Uncle was one of the geologists who studied Mt. St. Helens, don't worry he is fine.
I think I am torn between volcanoes and tsunami's. They are both so destructive and awesomely terrifying. I have honestly faced a wall of water, it was about 13 ft high... to me they are both kind of the same. They devour everything, they change the landscape, they can both suffocate a person.

Stay Safe!!! will be thinking of you...

 

[dahli6]

Stay Safe!!! will be thinking of you...

Aww, you are sweet.

 

[Moz]

Ooh, interesting question. I'm lucky in that I live in the middle of the Canadian prairies, so we don't have to deal with earthquakes, volcanoes, or hurricanes. We get the odd blizzard, but we've never had one that cut the power or anything like that. Grass fires are always a concern once it gets very dry out, like this summer (and we are currently under a fire ban), but I don't really worry about those. So for me, it'd be tornadoes. I always round up the cats and head for the basement whenever we get a tornado warning, but thankfully we haven't had one in a few years. When my mom was a teenager, her farm was hit by a tornado. Hearing that story over and over as a kid really made me scared of tornadoes!

edit: I thought today was the 6th. Oops.

 

[neely]

Can I answer ALL natural disasters are scary?
Living in the midwest i'd have to say tornado, we've had several microbursts touch down here and that's the closest I've come to a tornado.

 

[muffy]

I would have to say between Tornado and Hurricanes. I don't live in the Midwest but we do have Tornado's. About 15 years ago a Tornado touched down 6 miles from here and 6 people were killed. The only reason more people were not killed is because it was on a Sunday and no one was at work or school.

We get Hurricanes, too, even though we are 150 miles from the ocean. I have very large trees in my back yard and I'm scare to death one will fall on my little house when we have bad storms.

By the way, the date should be Sept. 6, 1917. You have August 6.

Muffy

 

[cassiopea]

First off, many hugs!



Scariest for me....

- Tsunamis
- Limnic Eruption/Volcanoes
- Tornadoes
- Famines (Along with war or political forced starvation, there are of course the natural fluctuation types like crop failures, insect plagues, plant diseases etc)

I always thought thunderstorms or typhoons/hurricanes in the middle of the ocean kind of creepy. Just thinking of all the black water, currents, loud noise and massive crashing waves. Sinkholes are eerie too!

 

[Blakeney Green]

Fires in any form are scariest for me.

 

[DreamerRose]

I currently live in the Midwest and have had tornadoes pass close by, but I grew up on the east coast, and for that reason, I think hurricanes are the worst. Hurricanes last a long time, and you can't go outside even if you need to because the wind will blow you all over the place. Trees can come down on your house, the power goes out, and it can take days or weeks to be restored. They are truly horrifying.

Fires, tsunamis, volcanoes may be worse, but I've never experienced any of them.

My prayers are with the people facing Irma and with the people recovering from Harvey. And especially you, Mamanyt1953 .

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

fires and water-type natural disasters. i think of my kitties, and those seem to me to be the worst for them -- though i'd never leave them behind, just plain never would.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Tornadoes, hands down. Hurricanes give you warning, and so do wildfires and to some degree tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Tornados strike without warning and destruction is terrible. They take more lives because they strike at any hour of the day and for the most part, people have neither time nor means of escape. Some areas have storm cellars but they do no good unless you have time to get to them.

Lightning strikes are a close second because they, too, strike without warning. The destruction just isn't as great.

 

[Norachan]

Earthquakes. I was here when the Tohoku earthquake happened in 2011 and it was scary. We didn't have any major damage apart from a few cracked pipes. Our gas and electricity went off and it took months for us to get a regular electricity service back because our power came from Fukushima Power Plant.

Tsunami are scary too, but as I'm 1,000 meters above sea level I don't have to worry about those. I do live on the side of a volcano though.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

All of them are scary. Having survived some hurricanes, I think I would have to say tornadoes or earthquakes would be the scariest. We had a small tornado come across our yard several years ago. It destroyed a storage building, skirted our shop building on the corner and took down a row of wax myrtle trees. We got in the hall close with large sofa cushions to cover our heads. It sounded like a train. I never want to hear that again.
I lived on the west coast during some of my teen years. While there, I felt several tremors, which my mother said were earthquakes. We all had cracks in the sidewalks out front of the houses from the tremors. They were small, but enough to let me know, small was enough.

 

[Winchester]

Good luck Mamanyt1953 . Stay safe!

A tornado scares me more than anything at this point. I lived through and lost everything to a hurricane in 1972 (Agnes). We've lived through blizzards and made it through the resultant power outages, waiting for a day or two to be plowed out, shoveling the driveway. Where I live now, if we get flooded out, most of the US will be gone at that point. Central PA does get tornadoes, sure not to the extent that the Midwest does, but they do spawn here. My aunt was in the Memorial Day tornado outbreak back in 1985; she survived by hiding under her bed. I don't ever want to live through that.

There have been times when during a tornado watch, I've walked around outside, checking the sky for changes in color or going outside and seeing a sickly greenish-yellow sky to the west. There have been times when Rick and I have gathered the cats up in carriers and put them in the basement and I've sat down there with them while Rick checked the sky and the weather under we thought things were OK.

The thread of a tornado scares the heck out of me.

 

[Willowy]

I think anything that gets too big/strong is scary. I've been through smallish hurricanes---meh. Smallish earthquakes---meh, but also sort of fun. I kind of miss the earthquakes, lol. Blizzards are not the worst winter weather; ice storms are. But either way, it's the power going out that's bad, otherwise you just sit around and wait to be dug out. A volcano. . .yeah, that would be scary. I don't think there's such a thing as a small eruption . I lived within view of Mt Fuji for 3 years though, and, well, Japan is basically one big volcano. So I know they aren't a threat most of the time. The Yellowstone supervolcano thing is scary.

Tornadoes are very very localized; your grain bin might be wiped out while your barn is untouched, so the destruction usually isn't widespread. But obviously, if it's heading right for you, that isn't much comfort! And the fact that you can't predict them very well, that also adds to the scariness factor. While of course I'm scared/cautious during tornado weather, it's not a big worry for me most of the time.

So for me, I think fires and tsunamis are probably the scariest. Of course, if a tsunami gets here we have bigger problems than a tsunami, lol. But we do have wildfires, and "controlled" fires that get out of control, and plain old house fires. So, yep, I'll have to go with fires as the scariest for me.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I would have to say between Tornado and Hurricanes. I don't live in the Midwest but we do have Tornado's. About 15 years ago a Tornado touched down 6 miles from here and 6 people were killed. The only reason more people were not killed is because it was on a Sunday and no one was at work or school.

We get Hurricanes, too, even though we are 150 miles from the ocean. I have very large trees in my back yard and I'm scare to death one will fall on my little house when we have bad storms.

By the way, the date should be Sept. 6, 1917. You have August 6.

Muffy

LOL, well, I've reached that age when I always know where I am, but sometimes I don't know when I am! Sorry about that, guys!

Thank you all for your concern. Currently, Irma appears to be tracking even further west, which means I'll see winds of maybe 20mph and more rain than usual, but not in dangerous amounts. ~wipes hand across forehead~ Now, that said, having lived most of my life along either the Gulf or Atlantic coast, I know that the best-laid forecasts of mice and meteorologists are often cast in disarray by hurricanes, so I'm keeping a twice-daily check on this one, and am prepared to act if necessary.

 

[Kat0121]

Tornadoes, hands down. Hurricanes give you warning, and so do wildfires and to some degree tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Tornados strike without warning and destruction is terrible. They take more lives because they strike at any hour of the day and for the most part, people have neither time nor means of escape. Some areas have storm cellars but they do no good unless you have time to get to them.

Lightning strikes are a close second because they, too, strike without warning. The destruction just isn't as great.

I'm with you. Tornadoes for the same reason. No warning.

 

[margd]

Earthquake. The thought of being buried alive gives me the horrors.