The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

Many sci fi authors write about giant calamities all over the earth. Since it is hurricane season in some areas, what natural disaster has the possibility of striking near where you live? (such as hurricane, heavy rains, tornado, wildfire) Have you done anything to prepare?

I live in Toronto so we're more likely to have a severe winter storm than the others, but we did have Hurricane Hazel in the 1950s. People found out that it's not safe to build houses on a flood plain, in this case the Humber. Cities about a 100 km+from here have been hit by tornadoes. We also get the smoke from the wild fires far away. At one point the sun was an eerie red just like in a science fiction movie and we had horrible air quality.
Low lying areas have been flooded after heavy rainfalls, including underpasses and one of our expressways-the Don Valley Parkway.
Thankfully, I live on higher ground. I try to make sure that we have plenty of extra food in the winter and that the snow shovels are beside the front door and the back door. And the winter tires on the car.
If the power goes off, we have a gas-powered fireplace in our family room that works even then, so we don't freeze.

I’ve lived in Ottawa since 1987. In that time the major disasters were the big ice storm in early January 1998, and a derecho in late May 2022, both of which caused major power outages. There are also occasional localized tornadoes in the area, more frequently than used to be the case. I’ve been thinking of getting a generator in case of longer term power outages. Otherwise we have a little Jackery power station and various flashlights etc. Our home doesn’t seem to be susceptible to flooding so far. (Areas near the local rivers are sometimes affected by flooding.) We are on the side of a hill. There don’t seem to be major wildfires around here.

I live in San Antonio, in South Texas. When you look at the “Star” shape of Texas, we’re in the center of the lower point of the star. If you travel east, we’re in line with Houston, New Orleans & Jacksonville, Florida. So you’d think we’d be subject to hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico. But because the shore turns south to Corpus Christi, we are about 2 hours inland, which takes away much of the hurricane risk. They tend to go further east; once in a while we’ll get heavy rain on the backside.

The other main risk is flash flooding. The worst of it is in the counties just north of us, where the tragic Camp Mystic flood killed 27 campers last year. Torrential downpours caused the Guadeloupe River to rise 26 feet in 45 minutes. The terrain is very rocky with hard-packed clay, so the ground doesn’t absorb & it runs right off. But we live on the NW edge of the city, which is not near a river & has the highest elevation.

We had a tornado a few months ago, but that was the first one that was anywhere close in the 27 years I’ve lived here.

Allan wrote: “I live in San Antonio.” A night on the River Walk is one of my fondest memories of my visit there a few years ago.

Summer is approaching down under which means bush fire season is around the corner. Last year was bad though so I’m hoping this year there is less to burn.

Doesn’t impact me in Melbourne but mum lives in the country and was right in the middle of it last year.

We did have a minor earthquake recently but Melbourne is not near a fault line, we don’t have cyclones or tornadoes down south and the last volcanic eruption was 30000 years ago

So interesting to read about the dangers in your area. I live in Salt Lake City. We have had several small earthquakes and a couple small tornados. Usually there is not enough snow in the valley to cause long term issues. But I keep bottled water and a first aid kit just in case.

I have a crazy neighboring country that bombs my city almost daily. Can it be considered a natural disaster?

It is a disaster all right! Whether it's natural is up for debate.

Disaster, human not natural.

In my area earthquakes are the biggest natural threat. My house is unlikely to fall down, but I could potentially face weeks without electricity or water and so forth.

It must be so difficult what you endure, Oleksandr!

Natalie wrote: "It must be so difficult what you endure, Oleksandr!"

Thanks, true, even if my case it is a way easier than for a lot of others.