Earthquakes vs. Tornadoes = It's official

[Cudedog]

OMG.

It's now "official". I will definitely take earthquakes over tornadoes any day of the week.

With earthquakes, if you live in a well-constructed building, or if you can get outside into a clear area (where nothing is likely to fall on you) you are safe, and you have it made. I was about 4 miles from the epicenter of the San Fernando Valley earthquake of 1971, where actual freeways crumbled to rubble all around me. The building I was in didn't fall, and I was able to get outside into a cleared space.

With tornadoes. . . not so much. No where is safe. No where to hide.

I have seen photos and videos of a lot of tornado damage during my life, but I have never seen anything that comes even close to this:

"Rolling Fork Mississippi Tornado Path - Massive EF4+"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsq-UO2Slr0

This drone video is absolutely jaw-dropping and astonishing. You can see residential streets in this video, with driveways leading off the streets. . . the majority of these driveways have NOTHING at the end of the driveway, aside from what appears to be a bare concrete pad.

Other driveways end at piles of twisted and smashed rubble.

I am so glad I wasn't there - and I pray for all the people (and their pets!) that were.

Words just cannot express what I am seeing here.

Anne

[OregonLuvr]

My friend from Florida says she will take a hurricane (not necessarily a tornado altho those follow) any day to an earthquake LOL Her quote:

" At least here we have time to kiss our butt goodbye"

She called me from the hospital in the panhandle when she was at work in the middle of a hurricane......good grief...I could hear the wind and then there was dead silence...she said yes the eye is passing over us. I could never get used to that.

I am with you Anne give me an earthquake any day.

[JudyJB]

Tornadoes give you no warning, but at least they are narrow.

One thing that most people do not know about hurricanes, however, is that the worst part of the storm is closest to the ocean. Most of the time, if you live 15-20 miles away from the coast, you will get a lot of wind, but it will be nowhere as bad as for those on the coast. Problem in FLorida and a lot of Gulf states is that people want to live as close to the coast as they can!

[snowball]

on the weather on the phone I watched some video's of the area so sad saw a semi trailer on top of the roof of a building what a force that wind had... it's totally mind boggling .... it was a worry when living in the midwest... we had gone back to Iowa for a vacation took the whole fam that included son in law and 2 grandkids so we were camped not far from the where our family lived 15 miles or so we had our 24 foot trailer some of the kids had tents and son was sleeping in the car... in the trailer was larry and myself our youngest and #2 dd so it starts raining we call out to the kids are you all ok anyone need to come in after all our two babies were out there I think they were 9 months old winds started rain continued and we ended up with all of them in the trailer... sil and #1 dd and daughter, #3 daughter and son and of course the 4 that were originally in .... we were packed...the winds were not tornado strength lacked I thin 5 mph of being and if I recall there was a funnel but several miles away in the town that Larry grew up in a tornado went through guess didn't like where the silo was so picked it up and took it over to the other side of the barn and set it down no damage this was many years ago.
I think it becomes the enemy we know...
sheila

[Shirlv]

With a hurricane you have a warning so you are able to get out of harms way.

[chalet05]

As I traveled among tornado watches and warnings, I decided I'd rather have the unexpected earthquake instead of the stress of 'what's it going to do?'.

[Irmi]

I agree that I would never want to live through a tornado. We are not strangers to hurricanes and lived through too many in MD, one of which brought two feet of water into our house and we didn't live on the water. As Judy said, the majority of people with the most damage from hurricanes live on the coast. We have friends from MD that have a condo in FL that was severely damaged last year from a hurricane. They can get into the building if they choose, but at this point still don't have electric or water. We're alive to talk about it and because we have a home on wheels, didn't lose everything.

[Colliemom]

I’ll take a snowstorm. Granted we may get buried, but once it melts it’s over. I will say that the snow they have been getting in California and the mountain areas are extreme, even for them. And I’m sure there probably will be some collapsed roofs, or some other damage along the way, but it will be less than what an earthquake, or a tornado, or even a hurricane is capable of doing.

I have been through tornado storms myself, but fortunately the funnel clouds have not come down near me and they have been small ones. Only once in my lifetime, until last May, have I seen actual damage from one. This past May was the first time that I have ever seen the aftermath of one, a bit over 36 hours after it struck th heart of Gaylord and it was an EF-3. I have been watching the videos and live broadcasts on the Weather channel over the weekend, of the tornadoes in Mississippi including the one that Anne was referring to, which was on the ground for 59 miles if I remember right. At least I think it was that one. One of them was anyway. But what I saw in my community was, this tornado hit about 3:45 in the afternoon, the first EF-3 to ever hit northern MI, on a Friday and by 8 AM Saturday morning, 1200 volunteers were already on their way or here to help. Into that day and the next, they were swarming like ants over Gaylord and an outlaying subdivision. Within four hours after the tornado struck the Evangelical church, had already opened up their facility for a shelter if anybody needed it, the Red Cross had set up there, donations were pouring in from all over and a fund drive started to raise money for a tornado assistance. Power crews rolled in from all over as well. Many volunteers came from other areas and even from out of state. And the community was helping itself. Neighbors were out, helping neighbors in the damaged areas. With the power lines down, everything in town was out so a couple of enterprising businesses and hotels got a hold of grills and did cookouts outdoors and started to prepare food for people who needed it, or wanted to come get it and the power company sent up a couple food trucks. We did not, of course get the extensive damage that the areas in Mississippi did. But one man who was helping out, said that he had lived out in Oklahoma, where they get tornadoes quite frequently, and he said he has never seen a community come together as quick and fast as this one did, and the amount of work that was accomplished in two days was amazing. He said what he saw out there was mostly despair, and nobody really knowing what they had to or should do. Didn’t see that here he said. I’ve noticed that too sometimes when I’m watching these videos, that there never seems to be a whole lot of people doing anything. It’s like they’re just wandering around until somebody starts giving directions and they wait for outside help. Here, by the next morning and the curfew had been lifted, the initial sweep to make sure that the injured were found and taken care of, everybody went to work. The path of the tornado and the surrounding area which was littered with downd power lines, limbs, broken trees, branches and other debris was completely cleared in a little over over 48 hours after the tornado. And power had been restored to the majority including myself, 10 miles away. I was affected for 27 hours. I learned a lot about the generosity of this community and the tenacity of it’s people, not that I didn’t know it before, but saw it in action this time. It bonded the community even more. But there are changes to the landscape, and although all of the damaged or destroyed businesses , have been rebuilt or are rebuilding, there are open areas in the residential neighborhoods where the path of the tornado went through. Some homes have been rebuilt, and whether others are going to, remains to be seen. The effects will be lingering for many years. The loss of two people, debilitating injuries to some others, the financial strain on many, the PTSD to some including children, the missing trees, some planted generations ago by a grandfather or other family member, a home passed down through generations, one a father built with his own hands and the son living there having been born in it. They were many terrifying moments as well as miracles. I talked with survivors, heard their stories and admire their tenacity and courage in the face of a life threatening emergency. I helped with cleanups, restoration of a destroyed playground for the children in the mobile home park, so they would have a place to play that wasn’t overgrown with grass, littered with broken glass and small pieces of debris from destroyed homes. I picked up remnants of people’s lives from an empty lot being readied for a new mobile home to be put in. I saw the changes come about from the work of volunteers and others over the summer. Now, as I watch the spring tornado season, I remember.

I will never forget this either. The mobile home park which was Ground zero


And the storm that caused it all. This is the actual tornado on its way Northeast across Main Street and heading toward I-75 and the residential area. Moving at 50 mph. I believe that the person who took this may have been using zoom on his phone because it was a ways farther down the road, but he had to pull off the road.

[Shirlv]

Don’t think it matters what we prefer. Mother Nature is changing the world we live in. We need to prepare and protect ourselves for all eventualities.

[BirdbyBird]

I think the size of area affected by the tornadoes makes a huge difference in the ability for people and communities to respond. There are those severe storms that are so much broader than other and those storms that touch down here and there and those that stay on the ground for miles and miles…..

[Bethers]

I've lived near tornados most of my life. After the 2 winters and most of a summer I spent near Huntsville, AL, tornado watches are almost constant. I would not live there. I've had to evacuate for hurricanes a couple times. A pain, but plenty of warning. Google helped me with some stats:
”One hurricane has the potential to be more deadly. Hurricane Katrina was blamed for 1,016 deaths, according to the National Weather Service. But on average, tornadoes cause more death, an average of 56 per year. Hurricanes kill an average of 47 per year." I should have put earthquakes into my search criteria. Maybe later.

[Colliemom]

There is truth in what you said Tina. Scope and size does jake a difference. Gaylord as fortunate that the size was not bigger despite the scope of damage that was caused. It held true to its path like it was destined to do so. No more that 200 yards wide. But the community had to respond to itself. That’s why the fund Drive started, because monetary donations started to pour in. We needed money to help with the cleanup and get the survivors shelter and basic needs and we had no idea if we were going to qualify for federal help or anything Which we didn’t. So with the generosity of people from 33 states, Canada and I forgot where else, over $2.5 million was raised in a very short time. Money was parceled out to United Way and Habitat for Humanity for immediate needs and help in the rebuilding process. There are still some monies coming in and money in the fund. The state reimbursed the city for the expense of hauling away debris and everything and of course the insurance companies will be paying for a lot of the damage too. So basically, we were on our own. Actually, I found out later that it was probably better that we didn’t have FEMA. Because when FEMA moves in, your local government has no say as to how and when things get done. They as we know, don’t move with exact swiftness. We have accomplished a tremendous amount of recovery in 10 months.

I think a lot of it was, that compared to a lot of other places which are mostly just towns that people live in, this is a vacation destination. There are a lot of people who have second homes here and there are a lot of people who come up here during the summer for their vacations or visit here on their way to somewhere else, come for golf, snowmobiling, skiing etc. . None of them wanted to see their beloved vacation spot all torn part so they pitched in and helped.

[OregonLuvr]

I personally do not have a fondness for FEMA. They turned down 75% of the people initially after our devastating fire. 2750 people without homes to go back to. Some appealed of course. They said you have to appeal so then they helped about 30% more. After a year, good grief took that long. They moved some trailers in and they are still there BUT the people had to buy them or get out after 18 months. Pay their own utilities which I was not objecting to that. I objected to how long it took them to help some of those people. I was fortunate I lived in an upscale park, most of us had insurance. The others lived in some less than stellar parks. Lots of migrant workers and poor people in many of them. I was housed from my insurance company for up to a year but I only stayed in the Hilton Homewood Suites for 6 months. The COMMUNITY and donations from many sources really helped out and came together. Habitat for Humanity is definitely on my list. The Red Cross actually helped out financially to all that signed up for it.

[BirdbyBird]

Sue I think you figured out another variable that would have been a positive for recovery in your area. The overall economics makes a difference in individuals ability to respond. The value of property and the ability of individuals to have had insurance, etc and other resources…..

[Colliemom]

A lot of people who lost their homes or had homes damaged, especially the 70 that were lost in the mobile home park were uninsured or in the case of some, found out they we’re underinsured or the deductible was way more they could afford. Many do not have much income. Enough to keep a roof over their head but not much more. So they had to turn to Habitat and United Way for help. That’s where the aforementioned $2.5 million in funds raised came Into play. It varied in the different parts of the tornadoes path. One insurance carrier estimated that they were going to have to pay out at least a$5- $10 million in claims.
It may have been a baby compared to those killer MS ones, but it created a mess of destruction along its path. We are rebuilding we are recovering, we will persevere.
https://www.mlive.com/news/2022/05/2-ki ... trict.html

This pretty well sums it up
https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/opin ... 480807001/