Monday, March 7, 2011

Natural Disasters

1989 SF earthquake

    - initially, just the biggest shake I'd experienced, but nothing in house fell (thanks to shock-absorber foundation?); everything normal outside - eg kids playing, dogs walked
    - then TV views of one familar place after another in flames or rubble, especially pancaked Nimitz overpass, part of my daily commute, and where a work colleague's wife was killed
    - watching TV announcements of quake on World Series broadcast, when I knew my family in NC was watching & phones not working


19xx Raleigh Hurricane Fran

    - mom / dad / brother heard "train whistle" noise of tornado, while 4 30'+ trees landed on roof, chasing dad out of bed under one of the trees, to downstairs for rest of night
    - every tree in backyard came down, approximately 20, mostly 30'+; other houses in neighborhood only lost tree limbs... with 2 chain saws run constantly by 2 brothers & their friends, took 2 weeks to clear
    - another tree crushed roof of Dad's SUV, where my brother had moved it at request, away from another tree scheduled but not yet removed - that tree made it through storm okay & SUV would have been fine in original spot

No comments:

Post a Comment