Hurricane or Earthquake?

[Camp Creek Kid]

I had an interesting discussion with some West Coast friends who now live here in Florida. These Californians did not know each other previously to living here. Both went through the Northridge Earthquake and both went through Hurricane Ivan. They both said that they would rather go through an earthquake rather than a hurricane. This surprised me because I personally would rather go through a hurricane because there is so much time to prepare and get out.

Their reasoning was this: The destruction of an earthquake and a hurricane is similar, but the stress before the hurricane was unbearable. If they had to choose, they said they'd take the earthquake because it happens and you deal with it. With a hurricane, you have a couple of weeks of watching the Weather Channel and stressing about it. They also didn't like the fact that while watching the storm, and hoping that it would miss you, you were actually wishing it to go somewhere else and affect others. And, there is guilt after the storm when it doesn't do much damage to you, but does wreck havoc 50 miles down the beach.

What do you all think?

 

[Kurt]

No offense, but I think we can assume they have LCS - left coast syndrome.

The anticipation and tracking of a hurricane's path is one of the great joys in life. :shock:

 

[RiverOtter]

I think at least you know the Hurricane coming. You can choose to leave or ride it out. No one as been able to predict a quake yet.

 

[Smiling JOe]

No offense, but I think we can assume they have LCS - left coast syndrome.

The anticipation and tracking of a hurricane's path is one of the great joys in life. :shock:

Hurricanes are very exciting and help to keep me humble. We all need a little dash of uncontrollable outside forces shaping us on occasion. It shows us that we are not the end all be all.

 

[katie blue]

Hurricanes are very exciting and help to keep me humble. We all need a little dash of uncontrollable outside forces shaping us on occasion. It shows us that we are not the end all be all.

:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: Yes!!
Storms are strangely compelling...the combination of anticipation, uncertainty and a certain degree of fear that put all your nerve endings on edge, making you all the more ALIVE. The negative ion-charge in the air that gives you a lift and relaxes you at the same time. The dramatic lighting that reminds you of how beautiful our world really is. And, as long as you have someone nice to hold on to, and a reasonable assurance of survival, the scary storm itself can be kind of cool. Once through it, you are a card-carryin' "survivor". You have a story. You've lived.

That said, it's the "after storm" moments i dread. The clean up, mangled beach accesses, that pit-of-the-stomach feeling when you see the resulting erosion and damage... but even here there are life lessons to be learned in patience and perserverence, and i wouldnt trade it for anything.

bottom line for me: storm over earthquake :wink:

 

[Smiling JOe]

:clap_1: :clap_1: :clap_1: Yes!!
Storms are strangely compelling...the combination of anticipation, uncertainty and certain degree of fear that put all your nerves endings on edge, making you all the more ALIVE. The negative ion-charge in the air that gives you a lift and relaxes you at the same time. The dramatic lighting that reminds you of how beautiful our world really is. And, as long as you have someone nice to hold on to, and a reasonable assurance of survival, the scary storm itself can be kind of cool. Once through it, you are a card-carryin' "survivor". You have a story. You've lived.

That said, it's the "after storm" moments i dread. The clean up, mangled beach accesses, that pit-of-the-stomach feeling when you see the resulting erosion and damage... but even here there are life lessons to be learned in patience and perserverence, and i wouldnt trade it for anything.

bottom line for me: storm over earthquake :wink:

...Let us also remember how great it feels after a storm, to be in a community where people come together to help each other. I know some of you who don't seem to care much for skier, would be there beside him helping him out if he needed it after a storm. I would. The sense of community after a catastrophy will be with you for the remainder of your life.

Some of my more memorable stories in life are from storms that I have experienced while being unprotected - just little 'ole me and the clothes on my back sharing the moment with Mother Nature. I have had the roof of my parents house ripped off by a tornado while I slept through it as a little boy. In that storm, I was protected by our house. Other storms, while not hurricanes, were more invigorating. I've been exposed to tremendous thunder storms while hiking above the treeline on a mountain tops in the Colorado Rockies several times. I have been pelted by golf ball sized hail while on a 50mile bike ride in the middle of farm land with no trees, followed by a lightning storm, then later that night while shopping at a Walmart around 11pm, we were directed by a voice over the loud speaker, to move quickly to the pillow section of the store due to a tornado touching down in the area. I knew that it would not be as bad as the hail that was pounding me earlier in the day. When I came out of Walmart, power poles and trees were down all around the perimeter of the parking lot. I have hiked through the Smokey Mtns, only to encounter 4 days of cold rain, and two days of ice storms. The list goes on. The point is that my life may seem boring to some of my friends, but I have had more adrenaline pumped through my body than the average person my age - most of it from Mother Nature, the rest from something inside of me screaming, "do it!"

Bottom line - if you are not living, you cannot truely die.

 

[katie blue]

...Let us also remember how great it feels after a storm, to be in a community where people come together to help each other.

ah, good one! that too.

i know it's silly, but i recall being almost jealous when i heard of a bunch of folks who stayed and rode out Ivan together over at Dusty's Oyster Bar (across from beach). love the food there, and i bet during a hurricane, it tasted 10 times better.

 

[Paula]

I'll take a hurricane and a week or two of nervously watching the weather channel because I then have a chance to get my family somewhere safe. In an earthquake, I don't have that same chance. For that reason, I wouldn't live on the west coast but I did buy property and hope to live in SoWal someday. And, frankly, after nervously watching every moment of Ivan's arrival last year on the weather channel, I don't think I would be quite so captivated the next time since, as long as everyone's safe and the place is boarded up and the stuff is brought inside and the insurance is paid, there's nothing else I can do. But -- just as I did after Ivan, I'll show up as soon after the hurricane as possible to clean up, patch up the holes from the plywood in the window frames, share the goodwill and stories of other people who are cleaning up, and to see Mother's Nature's handiwork. And next time, if it's safe after a hurricane, I'd bring the kids because they could help clean up, do some shelling and get a chance to see Mother Nature's handiwork as well.

 

[Cil]

I've been through a couple earthquakes but never a hurricane (at least not as an adult, my mom said I slumbered through one as a baby).
I can't imagine preferring an earthquake though.
Have been through some wicked blizzards and 100 year storms and seen what Mother Nature can do--especially those late spring snowstorms. ::shudders::
I know lots of Californians--several of them relatives--and, bless 'em, many are just diehards about their state, whether or not they still reside there.

 

[DBOldford]

We live just north of San Francisco and have a home on the beach at Grayton. I grew up in Walton County, but have lived in CA since 1978. Yes, we have earthquakes, about 35 each month on average, most of which we never feel. The Loma Prieta Earthquake about 12 years ago was the most frightening one of several big shakes we've been through. You don't want to be on a freeway underpass or bridge during an earthquake, but most of our structures are built to withstand quakes. For example, our home here is strapped and bolted onto its foundation with steel.

On the whole, hurricanes are of greater concern to us than earthquakes, even though we're not usually down there during hurricane season. Earthquakes are not predictable as hurricanes now are, so one is spared the protracted suspense. Once the quake occurs, it's all over by the time you realize what happened. Believe it or not, a lot of people here actually get a kick out of a good shake, rather like one of your tropical storms. Earthquakes occur less frequently than hurricanes and the loss of life when they do occur (even the big ones) is far, far lower with quakes than with hurricanes.

Three reason why I would rather endure an earthquake than a hurricane:

(1) Jim Cantore doesn't talk about earthquakes for a week before they occur.

(2) You don't have several days to a week of trying to decide whether to board up, strap down, or sandbag before an earthquake.

(3) There's no such thing as an earthquake party or a hurricane cocktail!

We have four seasons in CA...earthquake, wildfire, flood, and landslide...but we're willing to live with all of it for all the wonderful qualities and diversity of northern CA. We love Grayton, too in spite of heat, bugs and hurricanes.