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The 2011 japan earthquake and tsunamis really struck me deep for some reason. I woke up on my couch in the middle of the night to the live broadcasts of the tsunami engulfing homes and occupied vehicles.

The tsunami you mention in Japan and others in Asia, are incredible examples of the power of nature.
 
The 2011 japan earthquake and tsunamis really struck me deep for some reason. I woke up on my couch in the middle of the night to the live broadcasts of the tsunami engulfing homes and occupied vehicles.
The tsunami you mention in Japan and others in Asia, are incredible examples of the power of nature.
And this was the best recorded event of this nature. I watched differen videos for weeks after that quake/tsunami. A lot of knowledge and insight into the dynamics of tsunamis was gained from all of those videos. The damage was astounding.
 
On 18 November 1987, at approximately 19:30, a fire started at King's Cross/St Pancras tube station, a major interchange on the London Underground [subway system]. As well as the mainline railway stations above ground and subsurface platforms for the Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, there were platforms deeper underground for the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. The fire started under a wooden escalator serving the Piccadilly line and, at 19:45, erupted in a flashover into the underground ticket hall, killing 31 people and injuring 100. One poor soul remained unidentified until 2004.

I had gone up that escalator at 19:15, according to the stamp on my ticket, and neither smelled nor even suspected that it was on fire underneath in the lower gear mechanism, where all kinds of crap had been accumulating for years. Smoking on Underground trains was banned in July 1984, over 3 years before the fire. Following a fire at Oxford Circus station in November 1984, the ban was extended to all underground stations in February 1985. However, smokers often ignored this and lit cigarettes on the escalators on their way out. The inquiry found that the fire was most probably caused by a traveller discarding a burning match that fell down the side of the moving staircase on to the running track of the escalator.

I've never used the Underground in London since that day.
 
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The rise in popularity of "anti-fascists" fascists, cancel culture, ever increasing intersectional politics, "victim" mentality, and this last election cycle.... the USA is akin to a large festering boil waiting to pop.

^^^Yes.

Raising two angry Gen Z girls glued to Twitter and having a Peter Pan or two in the family I realized the social fabric of the country was disintegrating faster and faster.

This means I will be an obsolete relic way before my time.
 
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In less than a year I predict a flood of starch through the streets of DC when President Potato Head has a cranial aneurism.....
Nope. Two years and a day, so Karbala can be Prez for another two terms. Even if he dies, they embalm him and install animatronics, they'll try to do that. They get the dead to vote, why not keep a dead man as President?

Well, this thread took an unfortunate turn from informative into political opinions.
Not really. Look at history and the change of political leaders. Mao, Lenin, Chauchescu, Chavez, Pahlavi, Hitler, Charles Taylor, etc. The change of leaders often marks the onset of opression and genocide.
^^^Yes.

Raising two angry Gen Z girls glued to Twitter and having a Peter Pan or two in the family I realized the social fabric of the country was disintegrating faster and faster.

This means I will be an obsolete relic way before my time.
You already are -- both of us are. We missed the margin call.
 
I just took out 8 large (24") dead firs. This is an extension of my decision to drastically improve fire safety around my property over the last few years. This will be the third year also for Spring mowing/weed eating of every square inch of my property. That will continue every June 15th for as long as I have this property.

Having experienced a blizzard and an ice storm in the last 5 years that each produced a 7-10 day power outage, we now have a rewired utility service entry with a transfer switch that allows easy connection of an emergency generator. Plug in the generator, flip a switch, and everything in the house that runs on a 120V circuit will be live. As to heating, our wood stove will run you out of the house if you aren't careful and over fire it. As a recognition of that possible reliance on wood heat, I've built a firewood storage structure just off the deck that will store a cord of firewood off the ground, clean and dry.

My wife has always been a little bit of a prepper because she grew up on this property out in the woods. A couple of years ago she came to me and said she needed a home freeze dryer. Since we got that unit she has been continuously freeze drying things like eggs, potatoes, soup, chili, stew, spices, fresh vegetables, and fruit. This stuff will last 15 to 20 years, and weighs almost nothing packed in sealed mylar bags, just like the Mountain House stuff.

This is our BOL. So, only an immediate, specific threat would cause us to leave. If that eventuality arises, I have a plan that includes evacuating the gun safe of all guns and ammo, and one drawer from my desk that contains all of our vital records, along with all of our vehicle and insurance info. We actually got to practice this during the fires last August/September.
 
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I experienced the Columbus Day storm in 1962, the Christmas Flood of 1964, and the floods of 1996 and 2007 all while living in the same place, near a creek. The floods came near our farm buildings, but never really threatened them. The creek came up out of its banks and formed an alternate channel through a low spot in the hay field. This alternate flow was about the same as the normal winter-time flow of the creek. In 2007 the water only stayed up for about four hours, then receded quickly.

The Columbus Day storm took out our power and downed some trees, but we are located in a deep canyon that runs West to East, with a high ridge to the South, so we were somewhat sheltered from the wind. Since we encountered power loss at least once each normal winter, we were well-prepared, with kerosene lamps, wood heat, and gravity water. We still have the systems in place for self-sufficiency.

Since our home is designed to recent earthquake standards, our principal concern is physical damage to our outbuildings and the public infrastructure around us.
 
Which disaster? Grew up in socal, so earthquakes lots of them, watts riots. Served in the army in Germany, so snowed in deep. Lived in Texas, so tornados, flooding, face it, the whole state is a disaster. Lived in Florida, the Keys, so tropical storms and hurricanes. Then Colorado, yep, more fecking snow. Then back to California, more earthquakes, riots, oh yeah drought.
Survival? Stay aware, light on my feet, armed, mobile, a song on my lips and lightness of heart.
 
And this was the best recorded event of this nature. I watched differen videos for weeks after that quake/tsunami. A lot of knowledge and insight into the dynamics of tsunamis was gained from all of those videos. The damage was astounding.

The lady cousin of a colleague of mine in Tokyo was a grade school teacher on her first job after teacher training college. Her little school was not far from Sendai City in the Miyagi Prefecture, and there were almost 250 first and second grade kids there when the tsunami struck.

Not a single one of them was ever found.
 

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