Whats the worst Natural Disaster you guys have been through and how did you cope.

We had an earthquake yesterday and there has been a flurry of small ones ,reminds me of that one several years ago,we had a flurry then a biggy...When I lived in Florida I hated the hurricanes/warnings of them  the fires here, .How do the folks in Kansas cope with the Tornado's . whats the worst you have been through?  

[teko]

Hurricane Charley. I never will stay for another hurricane. All the people who lived here told me, no big deal, we have hurricane parties. So, I stayed, risked my life, and vow to outrun the darn things from now on. Never, never again!

[Angelinthemorning]

I've been through 2 tornados.  Houses were not demolished but, roofs were taken off.  These both happened when I was a child and I guess there really wasn't coping b/c my parents took care of it all.  I live in Oklahoma so, I can pretty much put on shoes, grab a flashlight, blanket, kids, mattress, and pile into a closet in about one minute.  All this while still dead asleep!!  It's kind of second nature around here.  It's ingrained into us since birth what to do.  And honestly, it's pretty exciting.  The power and beauty of a tornado is beyond anything I've ever witnessed.  
Currently our neighbor has a huge basement so the street just piles in there and kids run around like crazy while the adults take turns going up top to watch for the "green sky".

[Angelinthemorning]

Oh yeah, I've seen more tornados than I can count.  When I was young we lived about a mile from the path the tornados seemed to always take...

[Melissa0116]

I really have been fortunate.  I live in Pennsylvania and we do not really get any type of extreme weather.  The only thing is we have had extreme ice several years now which is very scary for driving and when you do not have power.  I have been on vacation and had hurricanes come thru but not really bad ones.  

[alikat1205]

Hurricane Katrina.  I didn't cope and still haven't.  

[Barb135]

I went through a lot of tornadoes when I was growing up in SD and also when we lived in IA.  "White out" blizzards - also in SD and IA are pretty horrendous.  

In 1975, we went through Hurricane Eloise in the Florida Panhandle.  In 2004, hurricanes Francis and Jeanne went right through our area.........

[twehner5]

I lived in FL for almost 38 years and lived through more hurricanes than I can count.  As a kid, they were GREAT FUN.  Once I became a Mom and a Homeowner....still fun, but not as much.

[wonko]

There was a major ice storm when I was a kid in 5th or 6th grade.  We lost power for a week, some went longer.  My parent's house has a fireplace in the living room, and we hung blankets over the entrance way to keep in the heat.  We still had running water.

I've never lived in an area prone to hurricanes/tornadoes, but growing up in Western New York we had some nasty winter weather.  My family had a snow plow and other 4WD vehicles.  I recall driving around looking for stranded drivers and running vital errands for others, like checking in on pets who's owners were stuck out of town.  

Hope you recover from the quakes!

[margypops]

Katrina was horrible wasnt it all those poor folks waiting for help, heart rending to watch it on TV I dont expect you have got over it alikat, the floods recently were pretty horrible also the fires here,we hear about the homes lost I think about the animals and wildlife aswell . It is a pretty wild country we live in,the best, but the wildest  maybe we should all move to Pennsylvania near Melissa.

[Cherie762]

the blizzard of 75 I was about 12 we had several feet of snow. lost power, nobody went anywhere for several days, glad my parents had firewood and a fireplace because thats how we lived we piled up blankets, slept real close to each other for body heat infront of fireplace, we ate what was in the house, some good quality time was spent playing board games and such due to no electricity, we survived. alot of people especially the elderly did not, and this is from along ago memory. People in MI still talk about it, one of the worst blizzards to date.

[SassyLassie]

I have been blessed, I lived in Florida for many years, experienced a couple of hurricanes, but they were mild.

I guess if you can call ice and snow a disaster, then I would say the first year we moved here, in 1996, we had so much snow, it was up to our clothesline and it kept coming that entire winter and did not really stop until April, we have heavy winters here.

Otherwise, our area does not get really bad things. Oh yes, we are prone to earthquakes, but, so far we have only felt one and that was the one that was so bad over in the Olympia area. In Seattle, they say, it is not "if" but "when" the big one hits, I sure do not want to be over there when it does, it is so populated and congested, oh my, it scared me thinking of it.

[redheadaussie]

The Bushfires here in Victoria, Australia were the worst natural disaster I can imagine myself having gone through...been through  mini-tornado, floods, and severe winters..(nothing like US experiences but cold snap for us!) Man! I NEVER ever want to be sitting here scared to death for those 7 long weeks of fear of not knowing if I was going to live or die, burnt to death or not! Horrible, horrible and still too fresh...the smell of the burnt trees just near my house still is strong, after rains.

[Melissa0116]

I definitely think that the state that I live in is a pretty safe state.  It is a wonderful place to raise children and the weather is not so bad.  Although, I do not really like the winter but spring, summer and fall are wonderful.  Especially fall, when the leaves change colors and fall off the trees.  The only real downside, besides winter, is that their is really not much to do around here and things close down around 10 pm every evening.  But, as far as natural disasters, we do not really have many at all.  Thank God.

[Melissa0116]

Oh yeah, one more thing, We have reasonable taxes here, I only pay about $5000 on real Estate taxes a year which I think is pretty good.  

[flmagi]

Like Teko, I went thru Hurricane Charley. I live in Pt.Charlotte where is was a dead on hit at about a Cat.4/5. I stayed in my house, since in changed course only about 1 hour before hitting us. It was me, my hubby and my 2 dogs. I was in the master bedroom closet with the 2 dogs, as the house came down around me.  My hubby was in the living room holding on to the french doors, until they tore apart in his hands. I thought I had lost him. I was severely traumatized and could write a book on everything we went thru, during and after the Hurricane. I went thru PTSD for about 4-6 months after.
When Katrina hit New Orleans, it really shook me up, even though I wasn't in it, knowing it was even worse than what I went thru and what those poor people where in for afterwards, really upset me.
One of my dogs gets all freaked out when we have even a little storm. My other dog was just a puppy , but nothing gets him upset anyway.
I don't know what I would do if we were to have another direct hit.

[margypops]

OMG flmagi, what a story ..forgive my ignorance but what year was Charley? I bet you did have PTSD ,so many stories out there ,any Katrina survivors on MH who lost their homes? We moved from Florida and a few months later 2 Hurricanes hit, went over Port St Lucie/Jenson Beach, we had lived in both areas I didnt want to know if the houses were still there.

[alikat1205]

I am a Katrina survivor and we lost everything.

[Barb135]

Charley was in 2004, same as Francis, Jeanne and Ivan.  All were horrible and I can certainly imagine people having PTSD.  We went through Francis and Jeanne - they weren't as bad as Charley, but bad enough for me..........

[flmagi]

Charlie was Aug.13, 2004. We then got "brushed" (outside winds& rain) from those other 3. The roofers had stacks of shingles on the roof when Francis came by and it was dangerous to try to leave the house because the shingles were sliding off the roof and flying. The noise was awful.
lol   I had taken videos of Charlie up to the point of the doors moving in and out, but then I also took pictures on disk for insurance purposes after charlie, and throughout the other 3 hurricanes. my photo disks were marked....
ACBF....After Charlie Before Francis
ACFBJ...After Charlie & Francis Before Jean
so on and so forth.
2004 was a very bad year.

Alikat1205:   My heart goes out to you and all those that went thru Katrina. I can't even imagine the heII you all went thru and probably still are.  There was an inexcusable failure in the system that should have been there immediately to help.

[margypops]

OMG they must have been ones that went over Florida ? that was the year we left Florida to come back to CA and heard that the eye had been over PT St Lucie and Jenson Beach.I never knew the names of the huirricanes.alikat I am so sorry , we saw it all on TV and were horrified, hope you lost no one  ,I see you say you still havent got over it,  can you tell us more ..

[alikat1205]

well, we lost our house and i lost my business, my childrens school was closed for a long time.  my husband worked for a hospital, had to stay throughout the storm.  my daughters and i headed to shreveport.  we could not reach him could not get a call to his cell.  finally after four days he got a message to my cell thru text which said "don't know when or if i am coming home, do what you need to do".  so i started calling all over baton rouge to get an apartment, but there were none to be had.  i finally was able to secure an apartment in lafayette, louisiana, a one bedroom apartment for my family of four.  my husband finally was evacuated a week later, and met us in lafayette, in the same clothes he had been wearing for well over a week, and he had not showered.  we all had to shop, since i only brought 3 days worth of clothing for me and my children, and my husband had nothing.  so we were homeless, and with nothing.  after both of us being professionals and having a nice home and life in new orleans.  we lived in the apartment for 3 months until we were able to buy another home in lafayette and commuted to nola to fix our home there.  we did finally sell that home, which was fortunate, since my husband's business never re-opened.  we did have to sell our home in lafayette as well, since my husband was transferred and we had to accept since he would then be unemployed, and my business was wiped out.  so we are now far from home, with no family (grandparents still in nola, we miss them, and so my children, they were all close).  my husband have not gone out alone together now since katrina, over three years since we have no sitter, no family, no life.  

[alikat1205]

i will add, we are lonely, all of our friends have been forced to do the same as we have, relocate all over the country.  people we have been friends with all of our lives.  gone.  we have had a hard time making new friends, and we are unable to go out and attend anything so we are just alone, trying to hang on until who knows what? until we can go home.

[margypops]

Of course you are lonely ,you have been through a horrible experience, you are a survivor you just hang on, there will come a time when you accept what happened to you, it sounds as if you are going to try to make it back to your home town, so keep that forefront in your mind, focus on that dont let your thoughts dwell on the negativityof what happened.. you all survived.. life has a way of when we reach the bottom there is nowhere to go but back up.Next time those old thoughts drag you down, tell them "Begone! or at least "Stop' distract yourself get busy go out running I see you ran a 5k, ground your self, children help a lot tehre they keep you busy no doubt .A fresh start ,a fresh Life is coming up, .you can start planning....

[Judy246]

Earthquake in Puerto Rico...very serious one. The ground opened up by my aunts home and it is currently a small stream. How did I cope...I was a child, thought it was fun that my bed was shaking me all over the place, then prayed with my aunt....Judy

[margypops]

We are still getting the after shocks here,just discernable where I live like a trembling, I have never been through anything like you guys have...Actually the fires here seem scarier than the earthquakes.

[flmagi]

Alikat1205,
I'm so sorry for what you're going thru. If you lived nearby, I would come and babysit for you so you could get some time away.
I'm wishing good fortune and some relief your way.

[alikat1205]

:) I try not complain, so you all just got unloaded on! I am a "lucky" survivor, we had enough money to pick up somewhere new.  Some days it is hard to remember that we are lucky, because it doesn't feel like it.  I am so jealous when I see women chatting, or drive by friends bbq-ing, all of that is gone for us.  But that seems so petty, so I try to just keep on moving!

[margypops]

It is good to unload sometimes we have all done it ..ask em all, where else can we do it and know someone understands,I  think you are dealing with it well, perhaps putting yourself out there would help.. be one of the chatting people, how about you get the Barby going , kids usually find a few friends to hang out with and they have parents.Hey I dont know the age of your children but ask some of the chatterers if they know of a reasonably priced babysitter,that may break the ice,

[heatherlynn22]

i've only been in 2 types of natural disasters. tornado and flood. not sure which to consider worse. the tornado destroyed part of our house (my brother and i's play room and the living room) and our yard. the flood destroyed our basement and entire first floor and part of the stairs. (the levy broke on the damn that was 1/2 mile up river from our house and we were all of 100 ft away from the river bank) so i'm not sure which to consider worse. thankfully nobody was hurt in either of those incidents.

pittsburgh got hit with i do believe it was 4 or 5 tornados one year. i wasn't involved in those but wooooo boy was that scary and a few years after that just about the entire city was flooded. i wasn't involved in that one either but since pittsburgh is practically my back yard....it was scary ya know.

[jdwithhcv]

Here in the northeast we get the occasional hurricane, but since Hurricane Gloria in 1985 we have not taken a direct hit.  We get blizzards and ice storms, but nothing you could really call a disaster.

Man-made disasters are another story.  I was in lower Manhattan on 9-11-01, just a few blocks from ground zero.  Now THAT was a disaster!

[margypops]

YES 9-11-01 was Man made.....Terrorist made..whoops am I allowed to say that now ..arent they called something else..

[Cherie762]

margy if it is what it is, you called it correctly !!