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I agree with your sentiment, but cold isn't a natural disaster; it's predictable and you can prepare for it systematically and people have been living through i

I agree with your sentiment, but cold isn't a natural disaster; it's predictable and you can prepare for it systematically and people have been living through it just fine. And it doesn't destroy your entire life like an earthquake does.

jonknee 10y ago
Tornados do destroy your entire life though and they are quite common in the Midwest.
- takeda 10y ago
  but unlike earthquake, you have ample time to at least save yourself, no?
  - mikestew 10y ago
    No, at least not sometimes (for non-trivial amounts of "sometimes"). Take my anecdata in another comment on this thread. Partly cloudy day, something blows in from the west. Dad and I decide it's going to rain soon enough, we should head to the house. About halfway between the house and the barn, Dad says "run!". That sound of screeching metal and shredding wood? Yeah, that would be the entire roof structure of the barn being lifted up and deposited in a neighboring field. We're talking a building that has more square feet than your average McMansion. And that was a small tornado. The only mitigation for the big, freight-train-sized tornadoes is that there's usually some harsh weather to go along with it to warn you that something might be coming. Okay, so you're not outside. You're sitting cozy in your living room watching Orange is the New Black. Tornado warning on the news, but tornadoes are very localized and you don't have a basement in your manufactured home. So what are you going to do, run to the neighbor's again to huddle in their basement for what probably turns out to be a non-event? Nah, it'll be fine. Until it isn't. And by the time it looks like you really ought to be knocking on the neighbor's door, you sure as hell don't want to be caught outside. Now, the weather services are usually good about a heads-up, with tornado watches (could be a tornado) and warnings (confirmed sighting). A lot of towns have a siren that's goes off on a sighting. But it is quite possible to be caught unaware, and there isn't a lot of time before that giant sucky thing moving at 35mph gets to where you're at.
- gph 10y ago
  But tornadoes are relatively minor in their path. If there's some bad luck the path will lead right through a populated area like Joplin, but even then it's not going to ravage an entire region to rubble. Plus if you live in tornado alley you should have a sturdy area to go to when you hear the sirens go off. They can somewhat be prepared for. People in skyscrapers in Seattle will have no time before the ground underneath them liquefies.
NotSammyHagar 10y ago
you can prepare for earthquakes too. we just don't do a very good job of it and have a bunch of old buildings made of bricks that aren't reinforced.
mikestew 10y ago
Frequency or intensity: choose one. I spent plenty of time in the basement of the house I grew up in waiting for something to blow over. I've experienced one earthquake in the same amount of time in WA, and it didn't really do much whereas a tornado was responsible for the entire roof structure we had to replace on the barn (thankfully we had left said barn for the house just moments before). Anyway, the point is that, no, we should abandon the entire west coast only to end up reliving the opening scenes of The Wizard of Oz. The universe has a lot of sharp edges, and they're everywhere.

jonknee 10y ago

Tornados do destroy your entire life though and they are quite common in the Midwest.

takeda 10y ago
but unlike earthquake, you have ample time to at least save yourself, no?
- mikestew 10y ago
  No, at least not sometimes (for non-trivial amounts of "sometimes"). Take my anecdata in another comment on this thread. Partly cloudy day, something blows in from the west. Dad and I decide it's going to rain soon enough, we should head to the house. About halfway between the house and the barn, Dad says "run!". That sound of screeching metal and shredding wood? Yeah, that would be the entire roof structure of the barn being lifted up and deposited in a neighboring field. We're talking a building that has more square feet than your average McMansion. And that was a small tornado. The only mitigation for the big, freight-train-sized tornadoes is that there's usually some harsh weather to go along with it to warn you that something might be coming. Okay, so you're not outside. You're sitting cozy in your living room watching Orange is the New Black. Tornado warning on the news, but tornadoes are very localized and you don't have a basement in your manufactured home. So what are you going to do, run to the neighbor's again to huddle in their basement for what probably turns out to be a non-event? Nah, it'll be fine. Until it isn't. And by the time it looks like you really ought to be knocking on the neighbor's door, you sure as hell don't want to be caught outside. Now, the weather services are usually good about a heads-up, with tornado watches (could be a tornado) and warnings (confirmed sighting). A lot of towns have a siren that's goes off on a sighting. But it is quite possible to be caught unaware, and there isn't a lot of time before that giant sucky thing moving at 35mph gets to where you're at.
gph 10y ago
But tornadoes are relatively minor in their path. If there's some bad luck the path will lead right through a populated area like Joplin, but even then it's not going to ravage an entire region to rubble. Plus if you live in tornado alley you should have a sturdy area to go to when you hear the sirens go off. They can somewhat be prepared for. People in skyscrapers in Seattle will have no time before the ground underneath them liquefies.

NotSammyHagar 10y ago

you can prepare for earthquakes too. we just don't do a very good job of it and have a bunch of old buildings made of bricks that aren't reinforced.

mikestew 10y ago

Frequency or intensity: choose one. I spent plenty of time in the basement of the house I grew up in waiting for something to blow over. I've experienced one earthquake in the same amount of time in WA, and it didn't really do much whereas a tornado was responsible for the entire roof structure we had to replace on the barn (thankfully we had left said barn for the house just moments before). Anyway, the point is that, no, we should abandon the entire west coast only to end up reliving the opening scenes of The Wizard of Oz. The universe has a lot of sharp edges, and they're everywhere.