During stormy weather as it has been this winter I believe it's human nature to recall the worst weather we as individuals have dealt with. I'm sure most of us have experienced really bad weather. Every type of weather condition exists in the United States; and some that occur no where else. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where it's claim to fame is Earthquakes; I've been in a few. I was raised in Minnesota the northern most state that is in Tornado Alley, Blizzards and Heavy Rain Storms.
If there is one condition most States suffer is flooding, the entire Mississippi River valley. Flooding from storms, Hurricanes and heavy rain are all common throughout our country. Of all the catastrophic events that take place in North America there is not one that out does the other. People may mention each storm as being the most severe however I have the opinion that any storm that sees extensive property destruction, loss of life or limb cannot be compared as they are all terrible. For one to say a Hurricane in Florida is more devastating than an Earthquake in California is futile; the only difference is Florida sees the Hurricane coming.
While watching on the news the weather occurring across the country I have come to the opinion that to enable one to rate weather events as to which is the worse, each type of event would have to be experienced by the person doing the evaluation. The deciding factor to me is to what degree the evaluator suffered during the event. My Grand dad found his father dead in a horse trough after a tornado, Cyclones were in his opinion the worst event.
I on the other hand even though I have experienced most of the types of storms in our country the severity is the difference in my opinion. I have not experienced a truly devastating storm with the exception of Blizzards which I did not think of as all that bad. The reason for that is I was raised with them and accepted them as a fact of life. The same is true of Florida and other states subjected to the severe Hurricanes. They will as the people in wildfire areas in the west will wait until the last minute to evacuate. Those of us that do not deal with those catastrophes each year think they are nuts to wait. My opinion is we judge them as harshly as they judge people in Earthquake zones because we don't share the same experiences or knowledge perhaps.
After leading the Cattle around the pasture then into the barn I must admit my storm experiences were never that intense. As far as the worst one I've been in I have to say the year was 1969 in Memphis Tennessee when the tail end of a Hurricane went through the Navy Barracks I was in. It wasn't a Hurricane by the time it impacted the base as the winds were most likely around 60 mph. However that was enough to send stuff through windows and knock a few fences over. I was inside the barracks safe I thought when a huge window exploded 10 feet from me. A shard of glass struck me on the upper right thigh slicing through my trousers and unfortunately my leg. I was helped to sick bay after the wound was wrapped and the bleeding controlled. I got a bunch of stitches then set loose to heal which I did nicely. Out side of a scar (I have a gallery of them on my old body) there are no lasting effects of that event; no worse for the wear I suppose.
It doesn't take much for me to realize that injury was insignificant when compared to the injuries so many others have suffered. Some have lost so very much during these events. I realize this is the only reason I rate Hurricanes as the worst; this wasn't even a Hurricane.
Jacques Lebec natural-self-reliance.com
jimsfluttershutter.com
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