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Post by helens on Aug 31, 2012 11:52:54 GMT -5
That is astonishing... that you guys can experience so many quakes and just brush them off!! In 30 years, only 2 hurricanes actually hit Orlando, and neither did a whole lot of damage.
BUT, I drove through Miami in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew and HOLY COW!!! Entire apartment buildings were sheared in 1/2, traffic lights and their poles were torn out of the ground and thrown, and entire acreage of pine forests were turned into matchsticks. That was one of the most devastating things I've ever seen, and I know that if those are the pictures they show of hurricanes, people would be terrified of hurricanes. But that was a 100 year storm, maybe a 1000 year storm, and a direct hit on the city. That said, I have an uncle who lives in Miami, and his house was untouched... not even missing roof shingles, while a few blocks away, homes were literally torn apart.
And I think building codes had a lot to do with that. Before Andrew, there were many many older homes that did not conform to code but were 'grandfathered in', and those buildings were taken down by the storm. But after that, all repairs, remodeling, new construction had to conform to much stricter building codes across the whole state, so the odds of that happening again are much slimmer.
I guess the same happened in California too with the earthquakes. But I still think you guys get them far more often than we get hurricanes. I mean you hear about hurricanes every year, like Issac, but the vast majority of them don't come near us, except very low lying coastal towns that could flood.
I still think that worrying about the floor moving and not knowing which way to run is more terrifying than a noisy rainstorm tho. But I guess if you never notice most of the quakes, it's about the same, which is not a whole lot to worry about in general.
John, I can't imagine looking out the window and seeing aftershocks... wow.
Pat, a tornado would get my attention in a hurry too! There are parts of Florida that seem to get tornados all the time. I went to a nursery a few years ago that said they got WIPED OUT not once, but 3x by tornados over a matter of years. Why would they keep rebuilding in the same spots if they KNOW that tornados like it? But they do.
I think the only areas not subject to extremes are subject to temperature extremes, summer to winter with 100 degree temperature spread. I don't like that either. So of all the 'risks', I'll take the hurricanes, because they don't bother us much here, even tho they sound really scary. Now living on the beach with hurricanes... don't know about that!!!
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droseraguy
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 426
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Post by droseraguy on Aug 31, 2012 14:51:15 GMT -5
Hmmm..... don't know what is worse. I'll ask my stepson who has moved from here in Illinois tornado alley to El Centro, CA with the quakes. If I remember right the tour guide told us in Carlsbad Caverns that the safest place to be in an earthquake was underground in a cave. Not sure I'd like to test that theory.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2012 17:14:21 GMT -5
That is astonishing... that you guys can experience so many quakes and just brush them off!! In 30 years, only 2 hurricanes actually hit Orlando, and neither did a whole lot of damage. That is because Orlando is so far inland. Smart choice to live there versus on the coast. A buddy of mine was in Daytona when Hurricane Charley went thru. It was a total mess. Eye of the storm right over the town when 100,000 people were there for a major trade show. All hotel damaged beyond habitable except the Hilton. The Hilton booked to capacity. Friends slept on friends floors..... My business partner spent the nights at the Best Western. The room had an inch of water. Windows broken, no running water, no climate control. Must drink yourself into oblivion to sleep. Best Western gave one night (of seven) free! lol I was supposed to go. But my father in law turned 90 that year. No way I was going. Thanks Grandpa Marty for keeping me out of the hurricane.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2012 17:16:00 GMT -5
I'll still take an earthquake over a tornado! Jean Amen.
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Post by Pat on Aug 31, 2012 17:51:52 GMT -5
In 1989, I was working on the 11th floor in downtown San Jose, California when the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred. I felt it! My heavy plant on my desk slid to the floor, and I had trouble walking out of my office --- in heels. Went down 10 flights of stairs to get outside. Building swayed and windows bellowed in and out. People driving by asked what happened and why were we all standing around!
It was a new building and used the latest technology for earthquake safety. Since the building rolled, it did not break.
Took me several hours to drive home. Normally, it's about a 20 minute drive.
I was never so happy to see my husband and four teenagers arrive home safely one at a time!
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Post by johnjsgems on Aug 31, 2012 18:22:30 GMT -5
We were in a high rise building in downtown L.A. one day when a minor quake hit. It was a strange sensation because the building was built on rollers. You could feel the building rolling side to side instead of the usual trembling/rolling motion. By the way, I believe the great state of MO still holds the record for deadliest US earthquake. Helen, my wife's sister lived in a high rise on Biscayne Bay. The year they had three hurricanes with two breaking windows and flooding the suite they relocated their business to Austin. When Andrew hit they went for safety to their son's place near Homestead. That didn't work well at all. They all ended up in the bathroom with mattresses against the door.
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Post by rockjunquie on Aug 31, 2012 19:53:32 GMT -5
When Andrew hit they went for safety to their son's place near Homestead. That didn't work well at all. They all ended up in the bathroom with mattresses against the door. OMG! Homestead was leveled flat. I remember the news of it. They were lucky. I've been through lots and lots of hurricanes but nothing too serious. Each one has a different character, too. One may be a rain event or a wind event or both. I think the scariest was when Felix sat off the coast here in Virginia Beach and made a run for it only to dash back out to sea. It did that a few times and wandered off. My nerves were shot. It would have been terrible to come up the mouth of the Chesapeake. They say that is a worse case scenario for us. We had an earthquake last year that was quite noticeable. (The one that damaged the Washington Monument) I was sitting at my computer and the place started a slow motion feeling like being on a big ship at sea. It got stronger and I saw the hanging plants and lights swinging madly. Just as I stood up to rush out the door and ask my brother if he felt it too, it stopped. Very, very unusual and scary. I lived in CA as a kid and I remember all the small quakes that would knock things off shelves. Mom would get really pissed about it. She had better things to do with little kids under foot than to pick up after every little quake. Tornadoes- now those scare the crap outta me. Too unpredictable. One tore through my brother in law's town (Gloucester, VA) coming too close for comfort to his place. The amount of damage in such a short amount of time is incredible. The houses still haven't been rebuilt. They are just sitting there.
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garock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,168
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Post by garock on Aug 31, 2012 20:19:12 GMT -5
An earthquake is a strange thing to be in. In June of 75, my wife and I were in one at Yellowstone Park. It registered 4.7. Obsidian Cliff fell and blocked the road. We were a picnic area and heard a rumbling and then the ground waved. Spokey feeling. You could hear a pin drop. No noise for a minute or so. Then things went back to normal. I will never forget that feeling.
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Post by Pat on Aug 31, 2012 20:20:33 GMT -5
garock, did you find any good obsidian? Rainbow? Imperial?
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garock
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since February 2006
Posts: 1,168
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Post by garock on Aug 31, 2012 20:21:37 GMT -5
Those picks were fantastic !! Looks like the dust is settling from shaking !
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,711
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Post by Fossilman on Aug 31, 2012 21:26:37 GMT -5
An earthquake is a strange thing to be in. In June of 75, my wife and I were in one at Yellowstone Park. It registered 4.7. Obsidian Cliff fell and blocked the road. We were a picnic area and heard a rumbling and then the ground waved. Spokey feeling. You could hear a pin drop. No noise for a minute or so. Then things went back to normal. I will never forget that feeling. Yuppers I ould have ran over there and filled my pockets full before someone came to check out the damage-LOL....
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Post by helens on Aug 31, 2012 22:52:22 GMT -5
A buddy of mine was in Daytona when Hurricane Charley went thru. It was a total mess. Eye of the storm right over the town when 100,000 people were there for a major trade show. All hotel damaged beyond habitable except the Hilton. The Hilton booked to capacity. Friends slept on friends floors..... My business partner spent the nights at the Best Western. The room had an inch of water. Windows broken, no running water, no climate control. Must drink yourself into oblivion to sleep. Best Western gave one night (of seven) free! lol I was supposed to go. But my father in law turned 90 that year. No way I was going. Thanks Grandpa Marty for keeping me out of the hurricane. Charley and Francis were the 2 that nailed Orlando, and it was the same year back to back... that was the worst we got it in 30 years (and probably for Daytona too). Charlie was the worst for us because we lost power for 3 days... 3 summer days with NO AC... gaah. And we were really lucky, some people had no power for up to 2 weeks. And it also uprooted some really huge trees and threw them across the road. Ahh Charlie, when the lights went out and the phones went down (all the phones including cell), I panicked for my mom, left my husband with the kids and drove over there thinking I could beat the storm (she's only a few blocks away). I didn't even think, I just went. It turned out to be the few minutes the storm was directly over us. I felt the SUV actually lifted off the ground on 2 wheels repeatedly. Twice the winds swirled hard enough to lift the entire SUV off the ground, I could feel the axles turning in air with 0 traction. A tree almost hit me as it fell, pulling some power lines down with it. Thank god I had a Durango SUV at the time, I actually drove OVER the 4" median to get around the tree in the oncoming lane (heh, I was the ONLY car stupid enough to be on the road so it didn't matter). I felt like Indiana Jones running from the boulder, and the whole time, the winds kept trying to flip my SUV over, so I drove in a zig zag as much as possible across the whole road to try to keep the car from rolling. One of those, 'you KNOW you are truly alive and appreciate it because the next second you may not be' moments. I don't think my heart ever pounded so hard or my head was ever so crispy clear. When I got out of the car, I almost blew away in the few feet I had to walk to get to her door from the driveway. I hung onto the door of the car for minutes before I realized that if I didn't try to make for her door, my arms may not be strong enough to hang on the car for long, not to mention the car itself could go rolling down the driveway and I would have nothing to hang on to (or the unhappy thought that I'd roll along with it). That was the scariest few feet I've ever tried to run ever. When I hit her door, I literally almost pulled her knob off trying to hang on, and she couldn't open the door for a while. The wind almost tore her door off the hinges when we both finally forced it opened it to let me in. I don't think I'd be here if her front door didn't have a recessed porch area. I weathered the the rest of it with her, but I drove through the worst of it, so by the time I got there it was almost just a big storm. On hindsight it was way more fun than a roller coaster ride! I've never had a rush like that! WHOOO WHEE! But I wouldn't do that again, and when I did do it, I didn't know it was the height of the storm I was about to drive through. As strange as it sounds... that was fun:). John, that was the year we had FOUR hurricanes in the same season... Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Charlie and Francis hit us directly, Ivan and Jeannie marginally, but I think all 4 passed Miami on the way in. But... we never had another one like any of them since. That was a heck of a year (2004). Back to back like that, it really did seem like Florida was trying to sink into the ocean!!
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