Filed under: Politics | Tags: Natural Disasters, The Seasons in Full, Weather
We’re back to normal rain in the Seattle area. (Don’t move to Seattle if you don’t like rainy days.) Any trace of snow or ice is long gone, and everybody will forget that it snowed, until the next time. The little town of Leavenworth, across the mountains, has asked for National Guard help because they have too much snow, and Chehalis, also across the mountains, has floods. Is there anyplace in the country that is free of minor to large natural disasters? I am horrified to see the damage from tornadoes in some parts of the country, because I have never experienced anything of the sort.
Floods, yes. We had about 3 miles of river flowing through our Idaho property, A somewhat shiftless neighbor upriver did a lot of pruning and cutting back brush along the river by his property one year, and left the prunings lie where they were cut, which was along the river. Normal higher water from snow melt in the spring washed all the prunings downriver where they piled up against a railroad bridge and essentially made a dam. The amount of water held back by the dam eventually burst the railroad bridge and descended on our property as a flood. Took out five buildings of ours. One was our power plant. We managed for a long time without electric power, but Idaho Power was on the way not too long after, though we did cope for a very long time with gas lanterns and kerosene lamps and our wood stoves. It was a major relief when Idaho Power finally arrived, and one could once again just flip a switch on.
Lived in a San Francisco apartment for one major earthquake. I was washing dishes with some nearby cabinet doors open and things were cascading out of their shelves. Some breakage, but not all that much, but it was scary. I definitely do not like earthquakes. No warning at all. Just suddenly everything starts shaking. Sometimes violently.
Floods, for the most part are the result of too much rain and high rivers, so you know what might happen. Most forest fires are caused by lightning strikes, but modern technology allows the Forest Service to get on them promptly. The local news may not keep up to date on forest fires, but you can check in with the U.S. Forest Service if you are planning a hike or camping trip. We have some active volcanoes here, but usually plenty of warning for an eruption.
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