Posted on 09/20/2005 5:25:47 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon
Government officials are evaluating and revising disaster plans around the United States in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, just as they did after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. While war and automobiles kill more people than nature, find out what natural disasters top scientists’ worry lists.
#10 Pacific Northwest Megathrust Earthquake
Geologists know it’s just a matter of time before another 9.0 or larger earthquake strikes somewhere between Northern California and Canada. The shaking would be locally catastrophic, but the biggest threat is the tsunami that would ensue from a fault line that’s seismically identical to the one that caused the deadly 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.
#9 New York Hurricane
Major hurricanes have made direct hits on the boroughs before, but the interval between them is so long that people forget, and officials fear they might not take evacuation orders seriously. The larger problem: It would take nearly 24 hours to make a proper evacuation of New York City, but hurricanes move more swiftly as they race north, so real warning time could be just a few hours.
#8 Asteroid Impact
Scientists can’t say when the next devastating asteroid impact will occur. Odds are it won’t be for decades or centuries, but an unknown space rock could make a sucker punch any time. Many experts say planning to deal with a continent-wide catastrophe should begin now.
#7 Los Angeles Tsunami
An earthquake fault just off Southern California could generate a major quake and a $42 billion tsunami that would strike so fast many coastal residents would not have time to escape. Add to that the unprecedented destruction from the earthquake’s shaking, and the situation would be reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina.
#6 Supervolcano
It probably won’t happen for hundreds or possibly even millions of years, but nobody really knows when Yellowstone will blow again, destroying life for hundreds of miles around and burying half the country in ash up to 3 feet (1 meter) deep.
#5 Midwest Earthquake
It has been nearly two centuries since a series of three magnitude-8 quakes shook the then-sparsely populated Midwest, centered near New Madrid, Missouri. Another big one is inevitable. Now the region is heavily populated, yet building codes are generally not up to earthquake snuff. What’s more, geology east of the Rockies causes quakes to be felt across a much wider region. Shelves would rattle from Boston to South Carolina. Some homes along the Mississippi would sink into oblivion.
#4 Heat Waves
Heat waves kill more U.S. residents than any other natural disaster. As many as 10,000 people have died in past events. As urban areas get hotter, electricity systems are strained and the population ages, the risk grows.
#3 East Coast Tsunami
It seems no coast is immune to the threat of tsunami. For the Eastern United States, the likeliest scenario is waves kicked up by an asteroid splashing into the ocean. Astronomers already have their eye on one rock that could hit in the distant future, but the cosmos could hold a surprise, too.
#2 Gulf Coast Tsunami
A fault line in the Caribbean has generated deadly tsunamis before. Up to 35 million people could be threatened by one in the not-to-distant future, scientists say.
#1 Total Destruction of Earth
Okay, so nobody is spending too much time worrying about what to do if the planet is annihilated, but at least one person has seriously pondered whether and when it could happen. From being sucked into a black hole to being blown up by an antimatter reaction, there are scientifically plausible risks of an event that would render this whole list moot.
And we're currently in year 4 of a drought!
Living only 30 miles from Milwaukee, yes indeed it's a disaster.
But not natural one, and even FEMA won't touch the pollution and corruption we currently hear about . . .
I too live about 30 miles from Milwaukee (Saukville) and cannot stand the city. I am content living in my small town biggest city I feel safe in is West Bend
Bandera Field is a potentially avtive volcano in N.M. Of course that's western N.M. though...
Doesn't Hampton Roads get hurricanes?
We get one about once a decade – and a fairly mild one at that. Isabel tore up some areas a couple years ago, but overall it was pretty minor (unless you lived in Poquoson). I had to “suffer” without electricity for almost 36 hours (!!).
Now you've done it. You'd better watch out. Actually, the prevailing southwesterlies really prevent lake-effect on the western sides of the Lakes. It's the areas east and south that get nailed. The worst place is right at the east end of Lake Ontario in Adams Center. It's the snowiest place in the US. The wind can come and pick up moisture from the open lake for the whole length of it and since Adam's Center is on the Tug Hill Plateau and higher up, all the snow lands there. They usually get 5 inches an hour, for hours. Some places up there don't plow much. They just keep driving on it and packing it down. You run out of places to put it after a while.
When the wind shifts to the East we can get lake snow even out to where I live, but only rarely. Lake snow is the best. It's so quiet and still and it just keeps coming - I love it.
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