Disaster

I know disasters are bad and loss of life is regrettable etc... etc...

But every time there is an earthquake I feel disappointed, cheated even, when it stops. The only thing I miss about Texas are the storms and all the hurricane pictures bring back fond memories. Anyone else on here get excited by natural disasters?

Anyone have any natural disaster stories they want to tell? Fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, all are welcome

A good friend of mine has a cousin who lives in New Orleans. The cousin decided not to evacuate. The family has had no word about her whereabouts or condition since Katrina devestated the area, and they are worried sick.

I just can't get excited about things like that...

I feel triumphant hearing stories of human courage in the face of the forces of nature.

There was a time when I was in a heavy snowstorm and my Dad was driving this awful Mazda minivan (I still detest it to this day for this reason...) and all of a sudden, it started to skid and spin and almost went off the road. Mother Nature was not on our side, I thought, and we were all panicking... it's freaky how vulnerable you feel when a big vehicle is slip-'n'-slidin' on the icy pavement. All of a sudden, we were "caught" by a set of trees nested by the road. They buffered the impact and we were able to get out, and I think there was a friendly stranger who helped us push the van back on the road. Some winters too, it'd get so awful here, the driveway was long and fraught with potential disasters. It's not so bad anymore in recent winters, but oh, the horror of skipping on black ice!

I've had a couple of bad encounters with water and cars. One night I picked my friend up from the airport (in a minavan-- connection?) and drove back out to the countryside where my mom lived. A storm had been raging all night and I couldn't see anything when driving on the dirt roads. Suddenly the angle of the car started to change drastically but I was smart (stupid?) enough to open the door and lean out since I could no longer see through the windshield for the rain. Flashflood!. So I backed up and steered the car back into safe territory, luckily the mud had enough rocks in it to let me back up. If I had driven just two more seconds I would have ended up in an arroyo. I know other people who have had their trucks washed away in the same situation around that area so I felt really lucky.

I think the fascination started when I was around two or three and my mom and I were riding out a hurricane (Alicia, I think). I still remember using an antique oil lamp because all the power was out and I remember the sound when a big pine cracked and fell into the house across from mine.

Just reported.... Army Corps of Engineers fails to plug the breach.....

We are witness to the loss of an american city.

This is going to sound dickheaded, but it's the truth:
It's below sea level but on the waterfront. Didn't anyone see this coming?

Good point, but people still live in Florida and California for some silly reason when it is obvious God hates both areas.


We have a family home that has stood in New Orleans for over 150 years, that is now lost. I have been unable to reach my cousin for further details. We have removed or duplicated some of the art and family images and moved most of the important things form the house long ago. Still the house is a very important part of our family. We say it is part of the family because births, deaths, and weddings all happened in that home. That home has stood as a corwning achievement of what could be achieved by a free black family during the time when most families were not free. I am sure that my cousins and I will work to restore it at some piont, but it will never be the same.

Chicago is built on a swamp and is sinking every year (a tiny amount, but sinking) and I doubt anyone will scream "ohh noesss" and run for the sweat hills of Wisconsin during my lifetime.

Huh. I didn't know that about Chicago. Interesting.

I'll never forget the almost human groan as an old old garden apple tree went over during the one and only real UK hurricane some years ago.

Protecting my kids, all crouched in disbelief in a dark room (electricity gone) at 3am, cowed by the insane shrieking of the wind. Peeking indistinctly at the glass of the window flexing in and out like it was elastic. Then suddenly, audible over the cacophony, a huge long slow spooky human groan.

Not until the morning did we find what it was. The old apple tree close to the house had gone over by about 60 degrees. Nothing visibly broken or even cracked. Roots still in the ground but exposed like a mangrove on one side.

I learned later that the "groan" occurs as the roots slowly "skin" themselves, sliding out of their "bark sheaths" underground.

It stayed alive. Went on growing. The kids loved a big old almost-horizontal trunk to play on - and all the branches at funny angles to peep round, particularly when covered in blossom.

Strange thing was, all our other trees survived, despite the fact that this particular one was very close to the house, and apparently sheltered by it. Must have been some freak flow effect.

All our roads were blocked by great fallen trees and the kids didn't get to school for a week.

This 200-year hurricane came totally out of the blue - no meteorological warnings - nothing. In fact the one tv metman actually joked the night before that some idiot had phoned in warning of a hurricane, and reassured us that it was total nonsense !

Sadly, the hurricane just hastened the destruction of New Orleans. At the natural rate of erosion, it would had collapsed eventually (sorry to say it maybe heartless), but that's the sad truth.

Why would anyone populate when they know they're in danger is beyond me. Unless the government finds its way of controlling weather, we're in for a few surprises.

Hi! I am absolutely sick with worry over my SL friend Trinity. I talked to her in SL all day Sunday.... she lives in the Jefferson Parish area of New Orleans. She didnt evacuate with the belief as many people had that she would ride the storm out. I was screaming at her, begging her to go to the Super Dome - she refused. "It was too dangerous because of all the flying debris".

About 7pm Sunday night in IM she just disappeared. I pray to God she is ok.

my thoughts are with all of you waiting to hear from people. and to the people themselves that are stuck there (although they obviously can't see this). i have friends that are from new orleans, who all have family down there. thankfully, they're families evacuated and are ok, but their houses are destroyed.

and chance, i understand your excitement. the anticipation for those types of events is exciting, and definitely brings an adreneline rush. but we say that while we're safely typing at our computers. when you're face-to-face with this kind of situation, with people dead, a huge portion of states destroyed, etc., it's a different story. i can't even begin to imagine what people are going through.

What a fabulous piece of history, Eboni! And a wonderful thing for a family to have.

It may never be the same, but once restored (however best you can) it will still serve as the pivotal history point for your family, and the story of the hurricane will just become part of that history.

I hate that it was damaged/destroyed, but I love that you have it and the stories that go with it.

coco

It sounds like it had less to do with the wind than the growth of the plant. What probably happened is that the foundation of your house holds a lot of moisture underneath it. The tree close to your house didn't have to extend its roots as far vertically (which would have anchored it more securely against wind) to find water, but spread more horizontally instead.

When I lived in Texas, I'd see things a pretty wide range of damage between trees where I lived in the hill country and trees in San Antonio. Where I lived was a higher elevation and the earth was primarily limestone bedrock, so the trees had to go very deep to find water. In San Antonio, it's a lower lying area with more soil and more artificial irrigation. The same violent storms would really tear up trees in the city but in the country they weathered them quite well.