I worked for a construction crew,when I lived in Florida.I helped build many homes from Boca Raton down to Hialeah.Every single family home built,were built using Tie-Beam's on top of Full grout Block Foundations,& Truss Jack Roofs with 5/8" T&G Plywood.Every sheet of plywood required 4- Hurricane clips(L-brackets with 4-8d nails ea.)to secure the roof to trusses,besides the 16d nails used on the exterior.Every truss required 2-3/16"x2'Hurricane straps w/8-16d nails ea.end to the Beam plates.King studs were required at All doors/windows,& Laminated webplate headers were standard.4"x6"Web plates w/10-4d nails,every 2' for interior walls & Hurricane Z-plates on Every stud,Top/Bottom Plates 8-4d nails per Z. That is Just the Rough-in Construction at Bare Minimum Bldg Code for South Florida in 1985,As I knew it!Hurricane Andrew forced the Code Bar,further up!A Home like that here in CA,would crumble up into a Mass Heap, if it were built atop a Liquifaction zone!

Richlacal, I think you're onto something. Not to sound paranoid, but there are potential natural threats in every location. Some places are more active and predictable than others, though I'm not sure if that makes preparing more or less difficult. Complacency works on both sides.

EDIT: Further to your point, I just read this, and there was another one further down the line a few months ago. It's not my hometown but that track goes through our little dot on the map, and it's our number one potential bug-out scenario.

It happened to me when I was a kid actually, on a different CN line. A train carrying propane derailed in the city I grew up in. My mom was a nurse and had to go to work to evacuate the patients. Dad evac'd with my brother and I about 3 hours away. I don't remember much about it except thinking "Yeah! We get to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house!"

http://news4mobile.ca/cpe/db_11527/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=IBLKwQXU&detailindex=3

I don't worry about regular folks becoming vicious thugs in a disaster. I'm more concerned about the ones who are already vicious thugs, and who won't likely change their ways in a disaster.

Ditto.

Richlacal wrote:
>Quick Joey Small,Were you present in Los Angeles during The >Rodney King Riots?

In what way is a riot; a natural or man made 'disaster'?
No one is claiming people can't be cruel. War, racism, crime and genocide are all too frequent. But to claim as soon as a hurricane or earthquake hits, people resort to savagery is not backed up by the evidence.
You are right, these things do happen; I just don't think they are part of what most people mean by 'disasters'.
And thread contributors will have to do better than just quote the media. They were the ones who told us New Orleans instantly became a war zone.
qjs

In the 2003 Blackouts, people walked home through the Bronx, Washington Heights, Bedford Sty - no problems.
In the 1998 Bay Earthquakes, Oakland was fine.

The great swarming masses you envision...they are in your mind.

that story is in the book mentioned in the article.

The ground water in Japan is now radioactive. That's in the news, right now. The End of the world as we know it is happening in part of Japan. So, where are the riots? Where are the bands of Nija assassins? Where is the Yakuza mob taking from all they can find?

Oh, wait...it's only in our minds.

Hey Martin,There is Nothing in my posts,re: Swarming masses!Before you criticize me,Make sure you have the facts down a bit more Accurately!Quick Joey Small,A Riot such as was mentioned,Is a Man-made Disaster!As a Former Constable,I'm sure you have attended to something similar,ie. Soccer Games,Labor Strikes,Anti-Tax hike Defenders,etc. Glock-a-Roo,Answered it All Perfectly!Hey Martin,Did you walk home through Trenton/West philly,EVER?

I've walked all over New York, from the South Bronx, to Bed Stuy, to Harlem, to Washington Heights, and everywhere in between. In fact, after escaping from the WTC on 9/11, I walked to my family's home in Morningside Heights. I have survived all of these adventures, and even relied upon the volunteered kindness of strangers to help me on my way (particularly on 9/11 and during the blackout of 2003).

In all my travels around the world I have learned one important thing. Most people, most places, most of the time, are good.

I am always ready to meet a bad apple when it happens (and it has), but it is all the more surprising when it happens because of how rare it is.

That said, know your area. NYC in 2001 or 2011 is a different place than NYC in the 1970s. But even in the blackouts of that decade, most people in most places behaved themselves.

In a mega disaster, I expect to need to rely on my neighbors.