Name Your Disaster!

[Teallaura]

Specifically, those you've actually lived through. You can include the story if you like!

Tornadoes (one jumped the house when I was a kid)
Hurricanes (Frederic, Opal, Ivan and Katrina - Katrina was a glancing blow to my area but it did hit)
Blizzard (yes, a real one - in Abilene Texas, of all places!)
Car accidents (um, four total. Not counting fender benders.)

[KingsGambit]

Microburst. My freshman year of college, a microburst struck our campus, and ripped the AC off the roof of my dorm (seven stories). It landed all over the parking lot, including my car, which was ruled a total loss.

[Hamster]

'89 Earthquake in San Francisco

[lao tzu]

http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=32,2,1,25

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...WXfVs1gsg1iqpg

[Teallaura]

Figures you would have an unusual disaster.

[lao tzu]

There is no Melrose Park Fireworks Factory.

[Teallaura]

You don't exist either - never stopped you.

[DesertBerean]

Hm....let's see....

Pre-Barstow:

Blizzards - at least two major ones where we were housebound.

Hailstorm - we actually drove into it twice as we literally went 'round the mountain. Hail was bouncing so much that there actually were brief whiteouts. There were a LOT of vehicles on the two-lane road and it took a very long time to get off that mountain.

High winds - gusting to 90+ mph, breaking store windows and nearly taking off with our 20-ft travel trailer. Everybody was busy taping each other's house windows to prevent that from happening to them. My mother had said she saw a woman get knocked down by the winds and actually roll long maybe thirty feet before she could get up again.

Tornados - once. Ripped apart a trailer park. Our school went on lock down before the all clear sounded, and everybody went home and hunkered down as low as we could in our houses until nighttime.

In Barstow:

The McDonald's Fire - In '85 or so, the big McDonalds burned to the ground. The smoke was visible for miles and from the I-15. McD's is a major source of tourist money in East Barstow so it was a major blow. They rebuilt it a couple of years later.

Earthquakes - Landers/Big Bear, Calico, Hector Mine. I think I may have forgotten a couple of others. I won't count Northridge because we barely felt that one out here. The Landers/Big Bear ones were practically next door, just over an hour south of Barstow and hit us hardest.

Warehouse explosion - in Daggett about 11 miles east of Barstow. Explosions were like sonic booms and broke out some windows but not the ones on my house. The United States Marines Corps Mounted Guard stables were right next door to the warehouse. A Marine got the horses out safe and sound. The fire burned long into the night. Turns out pressurized cylinders were improperly stored in the warehouse.

Barstow twin snowstorms in Dec 2008 - 7 inches or more, a new record. Being Barstow, 7 inches was way more than we were prepared for. We had to borrow a snowplow from the county to clear the roads. Huge, untrimmed trees literally cracked into pieces over the next few days because of the weight. The city (and others in the High Desert area) had snow on the ground for DAYS especially in the shade.

[Teallaura]

<makes note never to move anywhere near DB!>

[DesertBerean]

LOL. I think I SHOULD clarify the Daggett explosion ... I was in Daggett at that time, not in Barstow.

Realized I forgot the water crisis of 2010. Perclorate were at dangerous levels in our city wells so we could not drink the water for three days.

[mossrose]

Central Alberta in the winter.

Central Alberta in the summer.

There are no other seasons.

[DesertBerean]

I'm so sorry Mossy.

[Teallaura]

I'm pretty sure you are winning on points...

[Sparko]

Mossy smashed me into the next county with her pin, causing a nuclear explosion.

It's true!

I have a video of it.

pinsparky.gif

[Teallaura]

Mossy smashed me into the next county with her pin, causing a nuclear explosion.

It's true!

I have a video of it.

pinsparky.gif

That's a smilie. The other is the Mythbuster's explosion montage.

Get out of the rum keg, already!