Bee, if you lived where Schwert lives, and considered the disaster possibilities there, you would probably consider him somewhat underdressed:

Seattle's elevation is mostly near sea level.
It has 8 earthquake fault zones in the immediate area.
It's 60 miles as the crow flies from the most dangerously unstable volcano in the U.S, 14,410' Mt. Rainier which, if it erupted, the debris flows would probably close off one or both Interstates for a goodly period of time. Mt. Rainier is said to be five times the size of Mt. St. Helens.

When Mt. Pinatubo in the Philappines blew in 1991, if all the ash and debris that it blasted into the atmosphere had landed on Manhattan Island, it would have buried it...1,000 feet deep. I believe it was considered a smallish volcano.

Ash is tiny shards of glass. It damages the lungs and eyes, is so light that it can't be swept, it clogs auto air filters in minutes, and sifts through the tiniest of cracks into your home. If it rains on the ash, the ash turns to a material with the texture and weight of wet concrete, and collapses buildings.

I live about 65 miles south of Seattle. All I would have to deal with is the ash, which could be considerable, and would probably paralyze a goodly part of western WA.

As far as I'm concerned, Schwert is just carrying the bare necessities. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Sue