If You Had A Choice...

[Dr. Shane]

The thing about living in a hurricane area is that one can build to survive a hurricane and one gets plenty of notice that it is coming.

[Amelia]

I've only experienced one hurricane and that was Oregons famous Columbus Day Storm. That was scary enough!

But I really hate earthquakes. Now I haven't been through as many as a Californian but the few I have experienced were terrifying. One time I was even literally shaken out of bed at night. I would rather know whats coming than have it sneak up on me.

[olger]

Closed-cell spray foam in the wall assembly makes the house more than twice as strong. Lessons learned from Florida 2004, and Katrina. Most foamed houses survived Katrina..

[Dr. Shane]

I HAVE experienced all 3 of them

I can say I have experienced all three too but... I feel kind of sheepish saying so. Hurricane, no problem. I just went through one this year - Hurricane Dolly. Tornado, been through several - one was very bad and devastated the small town I lived in at the time. Earthquake, well... I have been in two and... slept through them both. One when I was a child living in Seattle. The other when on vacation in El Salvador. The one when I was a kid was a 3. something and the one in El Salvador was a 4.0. So neither was really big

One can build for a tornado but... most houses are very susceptible. Most roofs can be tore off by a tornado and most windows are susceptible to flying debris.

[Dr. Shane]

Closed-cell spray foam in the wall assembly makes the house more than twice as strong. Lessons learned from Florida 2004, and Katrina. Most foamed houses survived Katrina..

Does that foam serve as a type of adhesive that holds everything together?

I really favor masonry homes in flood-prone areas. I think codes should require the first story of any home to be masonry if built in a flood zone. Masonry is stronger and doesn't rot like wood immerged in flood waters.

[GreatLakesGramma]

We probably all least fear what we've lived with the most. I've lived in tornado country all my life, but never experienced any significant earthquake or hurricane activity. We've had a couple of very mild earthquakes in my lifetime, both of which I actually felt, and noticed. The first one, while I lived in a mobile home, felt like the washer was spinning, except the washer wasn't running. And that monster hurricane, Ike, was so big, the edge of it even reached us, here in Michigan, but it was only very heavy rain and somewhat high winds.

Tornadoes are supposed to be more dangerous than hurricanes, but what I've seen in the news through the years makes earthquakes and hurricanes both a lot scarier than any of the tornadoes I've ever experienced. Tornadoes cut a narrow path, and you have to be right in the path for them to do any damage. Even then, they lift up and let down randomly, and if they happen to lift up and pass over your house, you can still escape any significant consequences. Those of us who live with them often don't take them very seriously. It's so much easier to think that they aren't going to hit MY house.

A tornado hit our house this summer. I was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the warning online, on my laptop, when a tree went flying by the window. I went to the basement, fast. If the tornado had been on the ground at that time, our house wouldn't be here, and I probably wouldn't be either. But it wasn't. It stripped a section of the roof down to the plywood, drove hail through the window screens on the east side of the house, and destroyed about half of our large trees, including 3 of our best shade trees. Some neighbors had broken windows, a barn was carried across the road & deposited in a field (right in front of a passing car - talk about fear!), and a friend's shed was destroyed. All damage has been fully repaired for months now, except for our trees, which insurance won't replace.

I am still a little paranoid when the wind starts whipping up, but I would still rather be caught in a tornado than in the middle of a hurricane's path or the area directly hit by a serious earthquake.

[ChildofChrist]

Quote By Shane, "Does that foam serve as a type of adhesive that holds everything together?"

I don't know about 'foamed' houses but I do know they make forms using foam and pour solid concrete re-enforced with the rebar. It is rated as superb.

Other comments....

One of my fears-tornadoes. Been thru the mild quake back in April of 1963 (?)I was living in San Diego and was really jarred from the Alaskan event. Am extremely senitive when it comes to movement.

Hurricanes are more predictable and as mentioned, one is not surprised with it sneaking up, these days.

PS When I get sick, I want to be left alone to sleep. Don't want nor need anything else.

[carolaa]

Yeah, I've been 4 blocks from an F-5 tornado, and they can do some awesome damage. But so can a Cat5 hurricane, especially with the storm surge - to me that's the scariest part. But hurricanes can also spawn tornadoes, so you could be dealing with both, as well as serious flooding if you're anywhere near the coast. So it really just depends on how big of an event it is. All in all, I would choose a hurricane, just because you usually have plenty of warning and if you're inland at all, the damage isn't as catastrophic and you can save a lot of your stuff. With tornadoes, everything is just...GONE. But, of course, it really just depends.