Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Why do people continue to live in natural disaster hot spots?

G_Whiz · 05-06-2003, 09:48 AM

I think that most people have hit the general idea very well.

However, one of the problems is how these disasters are covered. Remember that they are very dramatic and visually impressive (both in their effect and how they look while they are going on).

What is the total population of the areas that have been hit by tornados? What is the total land area in square miles that are in these areas? If you put into those perspectives, the number actually impacted are relatively small. That is not to diminish the impact on those people, but in a larger sense the majority are not hit by it.

I live north of San Francisco. We have had earthquakes here about every 10-20 years. We've done our best to prepare for earthquakes. We know the devastation that they can cause. But in over 50 years of living here, I haven't yet had an earthquake that has caused me direct problems. In fact, the ones that I can remember riding out were kinda fun until the potential impact hit my consciousness. In between earthquakes, we have a great climate and a beautiful place to live and raise families.

In my area, we have had worse problems with flooding than we have with earthquakes. That was because we could expect floods annually with a big one every 5-10 years. Generally, the floods didn't kill anyone, but they caused all sorts of damage and rebuilding. Over the past 10 years, zoning laws have changed and homes and businesses are less likely to be built or rebuilt in flood areas.

05-06-2003, 09:48 AM	#16 (permalink)
G_Whiz Junkie Location: Northern California	I think that most people have hit the general idea very well. However, one of the problems is how these disasters are covered. Remember that they are very dramatic and visually impressive (both in their effect and how they look while they are going on). What is the total population of the areas that have been hit by tornados? What is the total land area in square miles that are in these areas? If you put into those perspectives, the number actually impacted are relatively small. That is not to diminish the impact on those people, but in a larger sense the majority are not hit by it. I live north of San Francisco. We have had earthquakes here about every 10-20 years. We've done our best to prepare for earthquakes. We know the devastation that they can cause. But in over 50 years of living here, I haven't yet had an earthquake that has caused me direct problems. In fact, the ones that I can remember riding out were kinda fun until the potential impact hit my consciousness. In between earthquakes, we have a great climate and a beautiful place to live and raise families. In my area, we have had worse problems with flooding than we have with earthquakes. That was because we could expect floods annually with a big one every 5-10 years. Generally, the floods didn't kill anyone, but they caused all sorts of damage and rebuilding. Over the past 10 years, zoning laws have changed and homes and businesses are less likely to be built or rebuilt in flood areas. __________________ If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?