Cataclysm - Is it going to happen to you?

[Rain Man]

In your lifetime, what do you think are the odds that there'll be a big disaster that affects, say, a quarter of the U.S. population, either directly or indirectly (via food shortages, extended power outages, etc.)?

Such an event might include, but not be limited to:

- meteor hit
- radiation blast from deep space
- massive earthquake and/or crustal shift/pole shift
- supervolcano eruption
- massive tsunami
- nuclear attack
- bioterrorism attack
- chemical attack
- attack of giant mutant animal
- alien invasion
- military invasion by Mexico or China or some other company
- superhurricane that's way bigger than Katrina
- supertornado that's way bigger than Katrina
- complete governmental collapse
- massive depression that makes the Great Depression get renamed the Pretty Good Depression
- large new dust bowl thingie
- massive virus epidemic
- civil war
- global warming and climate change
- destruction of food via honeybee decimation or virus that kills all grasslike plants like wheat and corn
- comet strike
- asteroid strike
- lunar strike
- dinosaur cloning and resultant rampage
- attack of crazy birds
- arrival of messiah who doesn't like Americans
- attack of brain-eating zombies
- development of sentient large apes who take over
- nuclear accident of huge magnitude
- massive solar flare
- massive computer virus that destroys infrastructure
- world's largest forest fire
- massive energy crisis that shuts down infrastructure
- solar flare that destroys Earth's electricity
- black hole
- mass extinction that destroys the food chain

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by lazepoo

I was living near Chicago when there was a tremor there last year... it was a very weird sound, especially for someone from the Midwest that's never heard anything like it. The buildings here aren't ready for it at all, either. I don't think it would cripple the nation, but it would be really bad – probably worse than Katrina or at least in the same ballpark.

I read a book called The Rift, a fictional account of what would happen if a series of New Madrid quakes hit in modern times. The book was very reasoned and frankly, scary as hell. West coast quakes are localized and contained due to the mountains - a midwest quake would cause major damage for hundreds of miles in every direction because there's nothing to stop it. The last one rang church bells in Washington and Boston. Buildings and bridges aren't built to earthquake code, and would be extremely vulnerable. Plus, think about all the pipelines that follow the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico. All of those would rupture, horribly polluting the river and cutting off fuel supplies. The river would also become largely unusable by commercial boats as its course would shift.

Very scary shit.

[lazepoo]

While we're on the topic... is there a conspiracy theory thread already on the planet? I wonder what else is out there...

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by lazepoo

While we're on the topic... is there a conspiracy theory thread already on the planet? I wonder what else is out there...

There was, but SOMEBODY deleted it.

Accident? I think not....

[lazepoo]

Originally Posted by frazod

I read a book called The Rift, a fictional account of what would happen if a series of New Madrid quakes hit in modern times. The book was very reasoned and frankly, scary as hell. West coast quakes are localized and contained due to the mountains - a midwest quake would cause major damage for hundreds of miles in every direction because there's nothing to stop it. The last one rang church bells in Washington and Boston. Buildings and bridges aren't built to earthquake code, and would be extremely vulnerable. Plus, think about all the pipelines that follow the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico. All of those would rupture, horribly polluting the river and cutting off fuel supplies. The river would also become largely unusable by commercial boats as its course would shift.

Very scary shit.

True... I remember hearing something a few years ago about bringing more things like the bridges and public buildings into code for just those reasons but the funding wasn't there. I'll have to check the book out. Did it list any real-life studies on the subject? I remember seeing something on the last New Madrid quakes on Discovery or something, but I've never really read a lot on the subject specifically.

[teedubya]

Originally Posted by beavis

Well, it's a well known fact, Sonny Jim, that there's a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.

So who's in this Pentavirate?


The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, *and* Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by lazepoo

True... I remember hearing something a few years ago about bringing more things like the bridges and public buildings into code for just those reasons but the funding wasn't there. I'll have to check the book out. Did it list any real-life studies on the subject? I remember seeing something on the last New Madrid quakes on Discovery or something, but I've never really read a lot on the subject specifically.

The book itself was about what happened to a handful of survivors and their struggles to survive - it was very reminiscent of The Stand, minus the supernatural aspects. But the quakes and what would happen was all based on prior quakes and the actual damage that occurred. Of course, 200 years ago the midwest was very sparsely populated. If those things happened today, it would be ugly.

[KcMizzou]

I choose not to think much about these things, so I won't vote.

Ignorance is bliss.

(Other than the dinosaur thing, which would be friggin' sweet... right up until one of them ate me.)

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

I choose not to think much about these things, so I won't vote.

Ignorance is bliss.

(Other than the dinosaur thing, which would be friggin' sweet... right up until one of the ate me.)

If that dinosaur thing happened, hopefully far away from me, I'd immediately buy a helicopter and stock a landing pad with as much fuel as possible. I'd need an elephant gun for the pterodactyls. And an AK-47.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

I choose not to think much about these things, so I won't vote.

Ignorance is bliss.

(Other than the dinosaur thing, which would be friggin' sweet... right up until one of the ate me.)

Wouldn't it suck if the tyrannosauruses could actually see creatures if even they stood still? Thousands of people would die cursing Spielberg and Sam Neill.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by frazod

Wouldn't it suck if the tyrannosauruses could actually see creatures if even they stood still? Thousands of people would die cursing Spielberg and Sam Neill.

"AAAHHH!!! THE MOVIE SA..."

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

"AAAHHH!!! THE MOVIE SA..."

*crunch* *rip* *burp*

[KcMizzou]

For the record, I did vote... 6-10%.

[Frazod]

I voted the 50% option. Too many options on that list, and we're probably overdue for some calamatous shit.

[KcMizzou]

I'd also like to see, "attack of giant mutant animal".

From a distance, of course.

[Lonewolf Ed]

Have you been watching the Discovery channel again, Rain Man?