British Couple Reacts to 5 Deadly Natural Phenomena America Has That Britain Doesn't

[@timothyranck]

My sister was driving us home from school during a really bad storm. I can remember her yelling "Oh crap, I think that's a tornado". I replied, "I see it". Then I realized we were looking out different sides of the car. Luckily they were both a decent distance away and didn't hit us directly but it was still terrifying.

[@siouxempirecoyote8174]

I’ve driven between two before didn’t know what to do other than pull over and wait and see what they were going to do.

[@catandrobbyflores]

This reminds me of when my mom and I were visiting family friends in Colorado. We had gone to the zoo and friend took a look out a window and said "we have to go". We were confused but left. She told us when we got back to her house that she saw signs of a tornado and we being from California, just saw overcast skys.

[@damonbryan7232]

There's a reason they call a F5 tornado "the hand of god". The tri state tornado had a path 1.5 miles wide 80 miles long. Where there was nothing left but dirt.

[@reformcongress]

It's a good thing there hasn't been an EF5 tornado for 9 years now.

[@jacob4920]

@@reformcongress Stop jinxing it with your reckless gratitude! lol

[@reformcongress]

@@jacob4920 I had my fingers crossed. It's okay.

[@adventuresinlaurenland]

It was 219 miles long.

[@xandro2445]

@@reformcongress probably due for a huge one sometime soon

[@gregweatherup9596]

The United States has coastlines on 2 oceans, we definitely have Tsunamis. Particularly deadly ones in US history include the April Fools day Tsunami of 1946 which killed more than 160 in Hilo (Hawaiʻi) alone. The Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 caused Tsunamis that killed over 120 across Alaska, California, and Oregon.

[@AlaskanGlitch]

The last tsunami was on July 28, 2021, just after the magnitude 8.2 earthquake off the coast of Alaska. Fortunately, the tsunami only measured 0.3 meters (1 foot) in size.

[@h.s.6269]

Hearing the story of the April Fools day Tsunami just tore at me when I heard it. People ignored other people's warnings because they thought it was a joke.

[@Becky.Ray14]

yep, im from a coastal Alaskan town and there are frequent tsunami warnings and alarms that go off

[@WillUTeachMe]

That's cool... but everywhere there's a coastline has a chance for a tsunami. It's not just a USA thing lol

[@Karthos1000]

Roughly every 200 years the pacific plate moves to create an enormous earthquake off the Pacific Coast that generates a tsunami. The last one was 400 years ago (before European settlers, but we have Native American stories and geological evidence) so we're about 200 years overdue. I live In Oregon, and when the "big one" happens, my city (well in from the coast, so safe from the tsunami) will still suffer massive damage from the Earthquake.

[@theblackbear211]

Part of the reason the Peshtigo fire was so little known, was that within its range, its destruction was so utter, that there were few survivors with few means to spread the tale. The Chicago fire had plenty of newspapermen watching it and reporting to the nation by telegraph.

[@susanwahl6322]

The Peshtigo fire happened at the same time, the same exact time, as the “Great” Chicago Fire.

[@theblackbear211]

@@susanwahl6322 I'm not sure I understand your point... that factor was discussed in the video. Am I missing something?

[@amandasargent2767]

Yes! I have, of course, lived in America all my life (34 years) and the first time I ever heard of the Peshtigo fire was maybe 2 or 3 years ago on a podcast. And holy fuck it sounded horrific. But that was exactly what that podcast said (can't remember which one) but despite how horrific and deadly, the great Chicago fire just completely overshadowed it.

[@josegiordano9838]

I was in Peshitgo Wisconsin during the 100 year anniversary of the fire. There were some 4 or 5 other wildfires in the westeren US at the same time. Today they have linked a meteor shower with these fires. One of the BIGGEST earthquakes to hit America was the New Madrid quake of 1811-1812. It was thought yo be 7+ to 8+ on the scale. It liquefied the soil, caused the Mississippi river to reverse its flow and was felt through out the mid west and even east to New York. Because of the location and type of fault line it is a very misunderstood but highly studied. It still produces over 1000 quakes a year, very, very minor, but the big one is due. When it hits, you will sea damage in places like Memphis, Kansas City, St. Louis and beyond. It will make the worst of California look like nothing as our buildings aren't built for them.

[@Og-Judy]

The Peshtigo fire happened when it was drought conditions. The fire quickly spread being fanned by high winds. It took 2 days to get word of the fire as the flames burned down local telegraph wires.

[@billbrasky1288]

There’s pretty much no place in the US where you don’t have to deal with natural disasters. Drought, wildfires, earthquakes, and mudslides in the west. Hurricanes and tornadoes in the south. Tornadoes in the Midwest and plains. Hurricanes and nor’easters in the northeast. Polar vortexes and blizzards in the upper Midwest. And I’m sure I’m overlooking a lot.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

I live in West Virginia, we are lucky to not have tornados, or hurricanes or earth quakes however what gets us is flooding, because we are basically stuck between two climates zones we get a lot of crazy rain at times from other major weather events which lead to slides and flooding, however they are still rare, when Sandy blew up to the north and terrorized the coast it dropped a nice heavy snow storm on the state, and took out power lines for a couple weeks, I was out of school for about 3 weeks because all plowing equipment was sent to rescue vehicles that had been stuck on the turnpike. It was a completely unexpected storm and there was no planing of it, luckily it happened at the time when salt and chemical ice mixes were being stocked for winter so once plows finally got out and began cleaning up there wasn’t any lack of work due to supply limitations

[@hughfuller8416]

Agreed, Us weather is crazy

[@Dr.HooWho]

I mean us is a huge continent that has a colder region and a tropical region as well so its expected to have all kinds of weather

[@steeljawX]

I've joked about it, but it's kind of true. Some of the world stereotypes us Americans as being mean and crazy, but in reality it's just the weather. You'd be a bit cranky and loopy if Mother Nature held an annual Hunger Games in your neighborhood for no apparent reason besides the fact that you're there. And the main crux of it all is that in America, it's not like a lot other places where you pick just one. We're a bit too free here so the land space of every state chose no less than 2 natural phenomena to annually occur every year. So it's not just "prepare for a cold winter" or "it'll be tornado season soon." You have to prepare for BOTH tornadoes and a freezing winter. Again, the world thinks we're some how inherently negative, but I'm sure our weather will shut them up.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

@@steeljawX true, I mean I don’t think most realize that even in Las Vegas in the desert it snows on occasion or that dangerous flooding occurs in places like Arizona

[@BamaXander]

Hell, I live in Dixie Alley. Those tornadoes get NASTY and their storms are actually really interesting to watch. Very often our fear is replaced by genuine awe. Mother Nature is an amazing thing, and for all of the trouble she throws at us, you can't help but be impressed by her sheer power.

[@stubbystudios9811]

Fear is replaced by awe but then it turns back to fear when it turns towards to you

[@oldfogey4679]

Drew I've never experienced a tornado we don't have them in the pacific northwest!

[@kamiraanddie12394]

@@stubbystudios9811 you won't notice it turning, it almost looks like it stopped in place, but in fact is coming right at you.

[@kamiraanddie12394]

@@oldfogey4679 be glad tbh. They can get real nasty as OP says. Lol

[@MonumentToSin]

@@stubbystudios9811 If you see it moving, then you're safe. But if it seems like the tornado is standing still, then you're directly in its path.

[@randallshuck2976]

Great Britian has lots of volcano remnants. Edinburgh Castle is built on top of a massive volcanic plug. Ireland has a spot called the Giants Causeway. Mount Snowdon in Wales is an extinct volcano, there are several more but I can't remember what they are called. They simply are not active today. I've lived in England for several years in the 70s and I really missed the Kansas weather. I have been in a F-4 tornado (very exciting for about 5 minutes then a real pain for 4 months cleaning up).

[@MikelosM]

Looks like from what they asked in the video, the last volcanic eruption in the UK (at least anywhere close to land) was in Northern Island 55-60m years ago (Carrick-a-Rede). Another one off-shore occurred 48m years ago (Hebrides Terrace Seamount; 100km+ off-shore).

[@randallshuck2976]

@@MikelosM True, but there was a lot of volcanic activity through the ages and there may be more in the future, there just anything active right now (geologically right now, last 50 million years). Often we are surrounded by geologic features that we don't recognize like land rebound following the retreat of the ice sheets after an ice age.

[@cmlemmus494]

As usual, Wikipedia has a good list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_volcanoes_in_the_United_Kingdom. The page also points out that some sites which are popularly believed to be volcanic, aren't. For example, The Wreckin in Shropshire is not actually a volcano itself, but a large amount of volcanic material was deposited there after a long period of eruptions in the region.

[@kingspeechless1607]

I really thought (for a moment) that you were going to say "I've lived in England for several years and 'I still haven't seen a decent tornado'"

[@randallshuck2976]

@@kingspeechless1607 That would have been true. I got very tired of weeks of light mist and the constant feeling that I was about to mold. I did enjoy the countryside and the people during my time there. I didn't even see a decent blizzard.

[@zaffora]

I grew up in the Mojave Desert USA. And when I was a child during recess the class was outside playing when a sand storm rolled in. The winds went from mild to extreme in a seconds. I remember being swept off my feet trying to hold onto the bars as the teachers took us back inside to proteckt us us from the wind.

[@jacob4920]

You should watch the Ken Burns documentary on "The Dust Bowl!" I watched that a few months ago, and it was just unbelievable! History textbooks always gloss over that event, but it was a CATASTROPHE, with a capital "C," to the people who had to withstand it for five years!! Sandstorms DAILY, and none of them were gentle!! America definitely learned a valuable lesson about the consequences of "over-farming" from that disaster!

[@krayzy932]

Phoenix has had some crazy dust storms (Haboob). Storm chaser videos of them are actually pretty cool looking.

[@bumblebee874]

I wish more vids like this would mention az weather. Our haboobs are insane and monsoon season gets pretty crazy sometimes. Not to mention our literally deadly heat.

[@williamcooper2415]

I've fought wild fires and I was a first responder during a hurricane and been through several. The Fire Chief sent me to refuel the power generators and the wind and rain was so intense, I literally had to crawl to get to them and back. The destruction was unbelievable and the nauseating feeling you get looking for the dead, is unforgettable.

[@Maeshalanadae]

My family was directly affected by the massive Oregon wildfires that raged out the other year. My grandmother had recently passed and left my mother and brother a pair of properties, one of which had the home my grandfather lived in until his death. The only thing remaining on the property of that lot after the fire was a concrete pad laid down in the driveway and various ruin debris. I’ve always had awesome respect for fire and rescue. You guys are true risking heroes.

[@drchapman6501]

I once lived in Lewiston, Idaho and could see Mt.Saint Helens, but I moved from there shortly before the volcano erupted. In Oklahoma, I saw 8 tornados. One passed over our home in Oklahoma and one passed over our home in Louisiana last month. And I have lived through almost a dozen hurricanes and 3 floods. I have not seen any major forest fires or earthquakes...nor, of course, tsunamis.

[@GilaMonster971]

I was visiting my grand parents in Oregon when Mt St Hellens erupted. We could see it from near Portland.

[@allisondaugherty5963]

@@GilaMonster971 I lived briefly in a suburb of Portland and on a clear day I could see Mt. St. Helens on one end of a road I lived near and Mt. Hood at the other end. I 100% believe you could see it.

[@saltygenx2743]

I've smoked a cigarette in a cat 2 hurricane, meh.

[@jacob4920]

@@saltygenx2743 I DROVE through a category 4 storm once, on my way back from Atlanta, Georgia, headed for Jacksonville, Florida. I'm honestly lucky that I survived that trip.

[@jacob4920]

You're living in Tornado/Hurricane country, but you probably never will have to worry about major quakes, and don't even bother losing sleep over volcanic activity. Seismically speaking, the southeastern United States is just about the most boring place in the world.

[@williambill5172]

The first tornado I remember in the 60s was called the Palm Sunday tornado. Our dad drove us near one of the hard-hit towns and we saw a street in town that was rolled up like a pile of wheat leaving a dirt road behind. Later we read that the street had been recently paved. We also saw a picture of a piece of straw driven into the trunk of a tree...in one side and sticking out the other by an inch or so...a still flimsy piece of straw - the effects of winds above 300 mph and very ow pressure.

[@Cricket2731]

I was living in the opposite side of town from that tornado. Ever since then, I get kinda nervous when the sky turns green & the clouds begin to boil.

[@williambill5172]

@@barbaralennon321 Yes...grew up on the northside of Indianapolis and I think this happened in 1965 - I was almost 10.

[@lorettaross5146]

I've read that the reason things like that piece of straw happen is because the wind creates a powerful vacuum that draws the wood fibers apart, creating openings that then snap back, trapping debris inside.

[@williambill5172]

@@lorettaross5146 That makes great sense...thanks! If you have ever been within a few hundred yards of a tornado passing by or over you, the pressure in your ears is what you remember most. People have said it sounds like a freight train, and that is the effect wind and pressure have on the air. To me, it sounded more like a roar in a tunnel!

[@K0HAKU_97]

I live by Nashville, TN. I remember everyone in the basement of our home praying that the tornado and remnant high winds would miss us. They did thank goodness, but it hit the community really hard to have Covid 19 lockdowns on top of disaster relief

[@hughfuller8416]

I grew up in tornado alley I’ve seen multiple tornadoes. Tornadoes are terrifying. I grew up in Oklahoma. One of the states he said. Oklahoma is known for tornadoes.

[@MJKarkoska]

I agree they're terrifying. We get them in Texas too, but I'm about an hour north of Houston an we seem to be under tornado watches a lot, but I've only had a few within 20 miles of my house, going back about a decade. I'm at probably the very end of tornado alley, and even though I don't see a lot nearby, I get nervous for every watch. I just can't fathom living further into the corridor for tornadoes, like Oklahoma or farther north even. Every time it rained I would get nervous.

[@hughfuller8416]

@@MJKarkoska it was apart of life. I lived on the edge of town a watched them drop from the sky.

[@JustMe-gn6yf]

Yup I live in OKC I've seen a few tornadoes over the years and had the roof torn off the building I was sheltering in by a F-5 just west of stroud

[@hughfuller8416]

@@JustMe-gn6yf my family still lives in Oklahoma. My sister live in NW part of the city.

[@zillatattoo]

and meth and horrible police.

[@caretaker158]

We've had a few earthquakes here in VA. One I remember distinctly was 2 days after my mom died in 2011. I was napping on the couch and it woke me up. Dad thought maybe a tree fell out back but when I went outside, a neighbor across the street yelled, "DID YOU FEEL THAT?" My cousin felt it up in PA too. Great London fire? Never heard of it before... Chicago fire and Mrs. O'Leary's cow? Oh, most definitely!

[@triadmad]

I felt the VA earthquake in northern WV. I was at work, looking over papers I had spread on a very large table. The table shook, but I figured it was someone walking by who gave the table a push just to annoy me. Then it shook again, and I realized that there wasn't anyone around to give the table a shake. Moments later, the guy in the office next to mine came out and asked if I felt that. He said the pictures on his office wall were shaking. That's the one and only earthquake I've ever experienced, and I'm ok with that.

[@kingspeechless1607]

The 'Great Fire of London' happened in September 1666. After a long dry period, a fire that began late at night in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane spread to large parts of the city (wooden buildings) and burned for five days before the wind dropped and rain fell. Almost 14,000 buildings were burnt to the ground whilst others were demolished to create fire breaks to slow the spread.

[@caretaker158]

yeah, I googled it after watching the video and reading the comments. It's just not something that's taught here in the US. Most people here don't even know much about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake... although Frisco wasn't the only city hit, it was actually a quake that was over 200 miles long, felt from California to Oregon. Massive destruction, huge property damage, four day fire, major loss of life. 500 city blocks demolished, etc. etc.

[@kauaimanks]

Living in Kansas, I've seen tornadoes regularly, the last was an F2 end of April this year.....biggest was the 1991 andover F5 tornado.....it and the debris field filled much of the sky. Still, you never really get used to them living here. Your favorite app is live weather radar so you can at least track them......to know if you should take cover.

[@driverr988]

I lived in Wichita when the Andover F5 rolled through town.

[@poppawolf5105]

I currently live in Ellington Missouri, where the tri-state tornado supposedly started. the museum here has a big write up about it. wiped out the whole town, which at the time was called barnesville. one house was said to be left standing. .they rebuilt and renamed the town ellington

[@edbrock8053]

Lost the roof of my home in florida in 2004, and much of the inside was damaged. Took years to repair.

[@jennyrose843]

Hurricane Ivan was a Horrible. I Lived in Gulf Shores, Al at the time.

[@jacob4920]

2004 was an exceptionally bad Hurricane year, for the state of Florida! I remember something along the lines of NINE hurricanes (rated category 3 or higher) blowing through, or around, that state during the three month period of October-December!

[@LC-uh8if]

@@jennyrose843 I drove to Atlanta for Ivan. My place wasn't too badly damaged, though there was roof damage. One neighbor had their car crushed by a falling tree. I lived about half a mile from the water, but the ground slopes downhill to the water. Houses on the water were completely destroyed by storm surge while homes across the street from them took far less damage due to the difference in elevation.

[@tykemorris]

I had just replaced my roof in the spring of 2004 in Florida only to have it trashed by Hurricane Charlie in August.

[@lindamills6192]

I just subscribed tonight to your channel. I'm blown away to find out that you guys don't have these weather issues. I live in west Missouri. I'm 60 years old and preparing for an upcoming storm was as natural as doing your homework. Everyone KNEW what room in the house to go to. We automatically assume to see the worst. BUT, there is in every family the "knothead" aka crazy person who runs outside and hopes to see a tornado coming down the street. Wanted to tell you also, don't worry about mispronounced American words. Don't know if you've been told this but MANY Americans absolutely love to listen to you Brits talk, there are countless accents in our country and your proper English fascinates us. Sometimes I need to remind myself to listen to WHAT your saying instead of listening to that lovely accent! Love from the heartland! Linda

[@nessiewolfe95able]

Hello fellow Missourian 😊I agree with your post

[@hawx00145]

I live in LA, SoCal...and while we do have many earthquakes, the last major significant one we had was in 1994 Northridge...right now, we locals are more worried about the historic drought and out of control wildfires.

[@jacob4920]

The odds, every year, of a major Earthquake happening DURING a California wildfire, grows bigger and bigger! Just imagining the chaos that would unleash (and don't even get me started on the death toll) would be enough to give anyone nightmares!!

[@krayzy932]

@@jacob4920 Wildfires are probably a bigger threat. California's building codes have gone a long way to limit the damage major earthquakes will do. Major earthquakes will still do a lot of damage, but not anywhere compared to what would have happened just 20 years ago.

[@kelmac1618]

@@jacob4920 I live in SoCal, and wondering what you are imagining?

[@marvlessmarvin]

Let's not forget California experience a Fire-nado in 2018. Lets hope we don't deal with a tornado made of fire again

[@elainablake3030]

I moved to California in 93 for a little while and Northridge was my first earthquake.

[@billolsen4360]

4:10 My great uncle was in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake when he was being fitted for wooden legs at age 19 after he'd lost them both in a railroad accident up in Oregon a few months before. He was good at surviving since he didn't pass away from either event. We love Lawrence here! 10:47 He's right...as Eliza Doolittle told us in 1964, "In 'Artford 'Erreford and 'Ampshire, 'urricanes 'ardly ever 'appen."

[@frutrace]

IIRC, they 'ardly hever 'appen.

[@billolsen4360]

@@frutrace 😏

[@garytrew2766]

Cute how Millie explained about what she meant regarding the Great London fire. And cool James for your reaction.

[@LordGertz]

I learnt about the great fire of London in school, yet I had nursery songs of the Chicago fire. The fact that my Mother was from Wisconsin and my father was from Illinois may be the reason the song was around my childhood, I also believe there was a jump rope game that went with it. And yes Hawaii and the Pacific coast do get the occasional tsunamis, some minor and others massively destructive the deadliest in modern times being in Hawaii & Alaska. With earthquakes, volcanos and an ocean you will get tsunamis. I my youth in California we use to joke that our seasons were mudslide, earthquake, wildfire and freeway shooting.

[@kristend344]

Steve Martin did a skit on "Opening day of shooting on the freeway". kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6C4ZGyIpdVnfKs

[@reformcongress]

169 active volcanoes in the United States. There is a really big one called Yellowstone.

[@Fmanzo10]

Yup and if Yellowstone ever blows again it will wipe out life on most of the planet.

[@reformcongress]

@@Fmanzo10 Potentially. Everything around it for a couple hundred miles, and then downwind from it for thousands of miles would probably result in massive casualties in the range of 100 million or more people in the USA alone

[@reformcongress]

There are currently 4 volcanoes in the USA either erupting now or have active watches on the potential. One in Hawaii, 3 in Alaska.

[@jeremygilbert7989]

It's technically a caldera but yeah, the Yellowstone caldera is classified as a super volcano but it's of no real threat. It's not due to pop for hundreds of thousands of years. Mt. Rainier in Washington is a much more present, albeit smaller, threat, especially if the well overdue super quake in the Cascadia subduction zone decides to finally go off.

[@daniellemay9481]

Oh I've missed you guys! Been dealing with a lot of grandparent medical drama and haven't been able to watch, glad to see your faces. Here in California I'm used to Earthquakes and we don't really pay attention to them unless they are 6 or move

[@epa316]

I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I remember seeing the volcanic ash all over the place in 1980. It looked exactly like grey snow. It made a heck of a mess, and we lived about 100 miles from Mt. St. Helens. If Yellowstone ever blows, we could all be in serious trouble.

[@heidipye3488]

Washington or Oregon? I remember my dad being a truck driver at that time. Brought home ash from that, sadly I don't have it anymore!

[@heidipye3488]

Whoops didn't read that fully.😁 My bad!

[@epa316]

Oregon, outside of Portland... I wanted to go outside and get some ash, but my dad wouldn't let me.

[@richarddexter7641]

Fortunately, if Yellowstone ever blows, we will all be long gone before it happens.

[@kristend344]

You might enjoy Nick Zentner's lectures. He's a geology prof at Central. They can trace "the Yellowstone hotspot" all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

[@jillian4809]

I went on vacation when I was younger with my uncle and I remember going out for the day and on the way back to the apartment in Florida I said that the clouds above us where turning and spinning after I said that he drove extremely fast to get us to the apartment… those clouds then became a small hurricane or tornado I’m unsure of exactly which it became.

[@lauralee83]

Being from Florida, we get probably 10 hurricanes on average per year ( i think 😬) . Most are like a really intense thunderstorm. But I've lived through 5 CAT 3 , 2 CAT 4, and 2 CAT 5s 😳. We have hurricane parties during most , but the CAT 4 or 5 we definitely hunker down. 😅 A category 5 is no joke and if you don't live in a concrete block home you should definitely go to a shelter.

[@DolphinsFanInVA]

I was just about to say most of this lol. FL is built to withstand these things without so much damage now, but places like New Orleans were not. I do remember a CAT 5 years ago where the eye went right over my house, so we went out and had a hurricane party until the wall got close, then it was back inside lol

[@starlightblackhole8409]

As a Floridian, I tend to get sleepy during rainy weather. Category 4 and 5 are definitely ones to watch out for and prep. Hurricane parties are great.

[@lauralee83]

@@DolphinsFanInVA 😅 kinda like the March NO NAME storm. Came outta nowhere.

[@lauralee83]

@@starlightblackhole8409 ME too . I love reading a book when it's storming. 😊

[@jacob4920]

I used to live in Florida, and whenever the weather service threatened the arrival of a Cat 4/5 storm, I got out of town! I didn't screw around, I nailed boards to every window on my house, and got out of there as soon as I possibly could! I always made sure I was one of the first ones to leave, too, because I didn't want to procrastinate, and get stuck in the inevitable traffic of millions of "last-second runners," which is what we called people who stupidly waited until it was just about to rain to finally get their butts in gear, and leave the area!

[@emilywhitfield2780]

I live in Missouri and have witnessed two tornadoes in my life! They are scary but there was no damage! Just grateful that we were able to take shelter!

[@azstarbar]

I grew up in Missouri. Saw and encountered quite a few tornadoes. Also felt and slept through a few earthquakes. The largest was two 5.6 quakes. When I was in high school, some of us volunteered to help with the 1974 Mississippi River flood. Missouri sure can have interesting natural occurrences! Stay safe.

[@tarmaque]

I lived through the _(Edit) 1980_ Mount Saint Helens eruption. At the time we lived about seventy miles north-northeast of the mountain, right in the path of the ash cloud. That was terrifying, but not particularly threatening. But we didn't know that at the time. All we knew was the sky turned black as midnight and it started to rain dry ash. This was when we had about four television stations, and none of them were broadcasting any information about what was happening. Luckily radio stations were filled with news and advice. But the really weird thing was, we had just moved there a year or so prior: from a town literally only about 30 miles directly west of the Mountain itself. I have friends who lost their home in the Lahar on the Toutle river. I grew up playing on the Mountain with my Parents, who would often drive up there. My Grandparents took pictures of the eruption from the parking lot of the church on the hill above their home. If Mount Saint Helens had blown Southwest instead of Northeast the death toll wouldn't have been 57, but _thousands._ It literally exploded in the least populated direction available.

[@reformcongress]

Before it actually blew, the north side of it collapsed and mostly blew all the rock and lava that way.

[@tarmaque]

​@@reformcongress It did. There are some photographs in series of the collapse. Knowing how big it is/was it is a remarkable thing to see. Today standing on the Windy Ridge Viewpoint and looking into the crater mouth today is an awe inspiring experience. (Johnston Ridge just doesn't do it justice.)

[@kristend344]

Just a correction for those reading from elsewhere who might be confused, Mt. St. Helen's erupted May 18, 1980. If the eruption had taken place on a weekday instead of a Sunday - the death toll would have been higher. The "no-go" zone - *excluded* timberland property so loggers were working in that area. Vulcanologists learned a lot from the record of 17 yo Pliny the Younger about the eruption of Vesuvius. (he was on the other side of the Bay of Naples) Mt. St. Helen's was the same type of eruption.

[@reformcongress]

@@kristend344 There were some loggers who were killed that day.

[@tarmaque]

@@kristend344 Whoops! I knew that. 1980. Thank you for correcting me. As I age my memory goes, and I was never good remembering numbers. You are also correct about the day of the week effecting the number of victims. Most of the 57 known killed were hikers, campers, and people observing the Mountain. There were a few loggers up doing this and that. However, had it been a weekday at the time the number of victims wouldn't have been substantially more. Most of the hikers and campers wouldn't have been there, and the number of active loggers in that specific zone was probably not large. Perhaps one or two hundred. Or even less.

[@shannonbigler2498]

Living in Oklahoma, I've experienced tornadoes often, even driving with then in sight. Yikes! We've also had a few earthquakes in recent years (due to fracking), but NOTHING like California. I've also had to evacuate because of fires, though that was a rare thing here. Keep up the nice work on your commentaries.

[@warbacca1017]

Fun fact: one of the biggest reasons wildfires get so bad in the US is because we've interrupted the natural fire cycle. In the past, large but weak fires would occur, clearing away underbrush and debris. But because we've populated everywhere, we put out the fires resulting in forest debris buildup and thus stronger fires

[@ivankawnartist]

Why do people insist on posting "Fun fact:"? Can't we just state what we're going to state without first saying "Check this shit out!"?

[@upset_bitchlet]

@@ivankawnartist Where’s the fun in that?

[@ivankawnartist]

@@upset_bitchlet Don't make your lack of imagination a problem of mine. Get creative. 🙄

[@K9TheFirst1]

@@ivankawnartist and don't make your hatred of fun our problem.

[@ivankawnartist]

@@K9TheFirst1 🙄Did you come up with that all on your ow? Don't let your inability to think rationally my problem.

[@cathyaudette1060]

I've lived in Florida for 54 years and I've been through every hurricane that has hit us since then. I survived them all, as did my home and pets even though my house is a half a block from the Atlantic Ocean. In those 54 years I have seen two tornadoes that were terrifying yet beautiful and neither one harmed me. Its perfectly safe to live in Florida, so come on down!!

[@Joe___R]

I have only experienced 1 earthquake & haven't yet seen an active volcano in person. I have seen tornadoes, wildfires & hurricanes. Seeing an entire town completely taken out from a tornado is the worst thing you could imagine, everything scattered & destroyed including people & animals. Wildfires and hurricanes generally give people time to evacuate but tornadoes can come down right on top of you without any warning & often at night.