Fires, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, and the like.

[DashingRainbow36 264]

My grandparents live out on the prairie with nothing around them. The only people around us are family, and other friends of our family. My aunt Diana who lives about 7 miles east of us, had a prairie fire start right buy her house. Luckily the fence that surrounds her house stopped the fire from coming any closer, AND the paint on the fence was fire retardant. The fire then moved west, and eventually jumped the highway, but only made it a mile or so down before authorities were able to contain it. The power went out and we had to start out generator, but the electricity eventually came back on thirty minutes later.

 

tldr; prairie fire out where I live, but made it safe.

 

It was a good thing that the fire got contained. It is dry as hell out here and that would have spread VERY quickly.

 

So that got me thinking. Has anypony here been through something like this?

 

Examples would be...

 

Earthquake

Fire

Tornado

SEVERE Thunderstorm

Burglary

City Riots

Store getting robbed while you were in it...

You get the point.

 

Basically things that would (if not soon contained) could have ruined/killed you or others around you. Or something that was just terrifying.

 

I tagged the word epic because I have always wanted to see a tornado. As terrifying as they are, I would like to see one out here on the prairie. As long as I had access to a basement, I would like to see one out in the fields. You can pretty much see for miles out here, so even if it was far away it would be EPIC to see it.

Edited August 22, 2012 by DashingRainbow36

[moneyshredderofdeath 414]

I did experience an earthquake once, the 2011 Northeast USA one that many felt. It didn't do jack but I still felt frightened since I would've never expected an earthquake in here of all places.

 

And there was recently a fire at a nearby house. It didn't affect my house, but had the wind blown that day, who knows... strange to think about.

[MuniMoose 489]

This is more stupid then dangerous but

I was walking with some freinds downtown and this guy jumps out to rob us at knife point

what this guy did not know was we were at gun club so you know what we were packing

I got to say I have never seen a man sh** his pants tell that day

I guess that would have been scary if we did not have guns on us

[Celtore 2,770]

There was a recent severe thunderstorm in my area where lightning struck what appeared to be mere metres away outside our window. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but this was the closest lightning has ever struck to my home. The sound was deafening and the strength of the vibrations sent me in shambles for a while.

 

Usually I don't mind thunderstorms, but that particular storm I retreated to the basement for a few minutes to recollect myself.

[AnonBrony 1,468]

Omg that reminds of that Earthquake that happened on the east cost of the US some time ago. Its a funny story actually. Since we wern't near the epicenter, the house just shook a little. But i was in my Basement and for some odd reason... i didn't feel the earthquake. After it happened my Dad came running down the stairs and yelled "Are u ok? Did u FEEL that!?" And i was like "feel what?" and he said "That earthquake!" "what Earthquake?" And he said the whole house shook and the TV almost fell over. And i just looked at him like ... O_o wat? It was funny.

But there are ocasionally storms and stuff here. My houses basement flooded once. The powers been knocked ou a couple times. Buts thats really it. I don't live south so Hurricanes arn't a big deal. The last time the power went out for some odd Reason my internet router has been on the fritz ever since. I has to set it up all over again and usually have to reset it in oder to get internet. Its weird.

[null1 606]

You forgot Big Floods. Remember the Great Tenessee Floods of May 2010? No one does, the media gave two and a half less f@#ks about it apparently. Those where 1000 year floods, so they say. I lived Northeast of Nashville, so I witnessed alot of the flood. Opry Mills, the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, all flooded and badly damaged.

 

But we all fixed it, without any media coverage. I helped disassemble a mostly metal hockey rink that was twisted and wrecked from strong floodwater currents. There also is was this house that was completely flooded that I would pass on the way to work. It was in a section that was submerged real bad. Early on, you could tell where the waterline was because of the dead leaves on the trees.

 

But alot of the damages are fixed now. Tennessee lives on.

 

Here, click on this to see how big the floods were

http://en.wikipedia....le_flood_08.jpg

Edited August 22, 2012 by DeltaTangent

[Cherry Blossom 864]

Well I've experienced a minor earthquake in my neighborhood that really scared the buck out of me. I was in the basement looking around because I was bored and there was some weird shaking going on. At first I thought my mom and brother were just jogging and running around so weirdly, but then my brother quickly told me to get out of the house.

 

A tornado had been near my school just when we were going home. We all had to stay inside the school building and had to have safety procedures.

 

I've also nearly set my hand on fire just by trying to warm a napkin with a candle.

[SonOfTheNorthe 412]

I was born in Kansas, and apparently, I lived through a tornado. (I was about 1 when it supposedly happened)

[DashingRainbow36 264]

There was a recent severe thunderstorm in my area where lightning struck what appeared to be mere metres away outside our window. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but this was the closest lightning has ever struck to my home. The sound was deafening and the strength of the vibrations sent me in shambles for a while.

 

Usually I don't mind thunderstorms, but that particular storm I retreated to the basement for a few minutes to recollect myself.

 

I used to be deathly afraid of storms, but I eventually came out of it. It was a lightning strike that hit a tree in our back yard that made me anxious around them.

 

You forgot Big Floods. Remember the Great Tenessee Floods of May 2010? No one does, the media gave two and a half less f@#ks about it apparently. Those where 1000 year floods, so they say. I lived Northeast of Nashville, so I witnessed alot of the flood. Opry Mills, the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, all flooded and badly damaged.

 

But we all fixed it, without any media coverage. I helped disassemble a mostly metal hockey rink that was twisted and wrecked from strong floodwater currents. There also is was this house that was completely flooded that I would pass on the way to work. It was in a section that was submerged real bad. Early on, you could tell where the waterline was because of the dead leaves on the trees.

 

But alot of the damages are fixed now. Tennessee lives on.

 

Here, click on this to see how big the floods were

http://en.wikipedia....le_flood_08.jpg

 

Damn I was following that whole thing. And I can't believe I forgot to add floods. I used to live in Pierre, SD where we got some floods, wasn't as bad as you guys though.

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I've experienced minor earthquakes, and when I was vacationing in Mazatlan, there was a tropical storm, but other than that. nothing huge for me.

[Lost 1,410]

I live in the UK so the closest we really get to extreme weather is some snow, rain/flooding and we've had some minor earthquakes and tornados, so the only story I could really share is this one from a few years ago:

 

I lived in a small village at the time, there were only two roads in/out of the village, a small road that linked to another village and a road that went rather steeply uphill, we had to get out to go to a nearby village but heavy rain caused some flooding, meaning the main road (one uphill) couldn't be used to leave the village, we drove down the other road and came across flooding there too, a lotus (if you have not seen one, it's a very small low riding car) came the other way and drove through fine, so being in a higher ridding car we figured we would be fine.

 

Halfway through the car stalled and flooded, we were stuck in the car with water more than halfway up the doors, we had to call a farmer to come tow us out, by which time the car itself had filled to the point that water surrounded our waists, it wasn't fun :/

[~The Snowy Wolf~ 1,579]

I've gone through hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Luckily, my house only got some wind damage (I live on the Westbank of the New Orleans area). It was actually pretty cool for some reason, I don't know, I really like heavy rain and a hurricane is the pinnacle of heavy rain.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Vinyl Blade

[OptimisticNeighsayer 478]

From your list, I've 'experienced' burglary. Which is somewhat out of line with all of the others-- many (U.S.) states do not actually require, from the actual statutes at least, that there be some literal "breaking into" a property (one can just use an open door to commit the larceny/theft) and certainly does not require any violent encounter between the perpetrator and the victim (although penalties are oftentimes more severe, esp. with a weapon). I understand what you meant in relationship to all of the others, but it just seemed out of place from a legal point of view, especially when robbery, riots, assault, and battery would count for the list.

 

As you can probably guess, my life wasn't "on the line" nor particularly terrifying-- it just so happened that my parents had accidentally left our garage door and car trunk open and someone seized on the opportunity to steal the laptop computer that was also forgotten to be taken inside. So I guess it a lot of it was our fault, but it was sort of scary to find out.

 

I've also experienced near-hurricane conditions at least once-- it might have been some residual effects from Hurricane Katrina and the winds nearly reached 72 mph and there was a good deal of rain. The winds destroyed half of one of the biggest trees in my backyard and we eventually had to tear it down. Fortunately it didn't hit our house, least not that I remember. And I was safe inside, but the conditions were certainly disturbing.

Edited August 22, 2012 by JustFairness

[Lex 33]

 

This was taken from the balcony of my house last year when a major fire came through my area.

 

Everyone in our area was evacuated because the fire was completely out of control. I was working at the time and by the time I got back the fire was so bad that the firefighters wouldn't let me back into the area to go and get my dogs. I was so upset because they were locked in the backyard and if the fire reached my house I knew they would be dead within a few minutes. So naturally, I ignored what the firefighters said and drove my car through the backstreets and climbed over some neighbouring fences to get to them. I could barely breathe as the smoke was so thick by that point. And trying to lift a 30kg golden retriever over high fences didn't make it easier

 

Anyway, myself and the dogs got out safely, but I had to spend the night at a friend's house wondering if I would have anything to go home to in the morning. I only got about an hour's sleep that night. Worst night of my life. Luckily our house was spared (just), but about 50 neighbouring houses were destroyed. One person died. It was a pretty dramatic day.

Edited August 22, 2012 by Storm

[DashingRainbow36 264]

 

This was taken from the balcony of my house last year when a major fire came through my area.

 

Everyone in our area was evacuated because the fire was completely out of control. I was working at the time and by the time I got back the fire was so bad that the firefighters wouldn't let me back into the area to go and get my dogs. I was so upset because they were locked in the backyard and if the fire reached my house I knew they would be dead within a few minutes. So naturally, I ignored what the firefighters said and drove my car through the backstreets and climbed over some neighbouring fences to get to them. I could barely breathe as the smoke was so thick by that point. And trying to lift a 30kg golden retriever over high fences didn't make it easier

 

Anyway, myself and the dogs got out safely, but I had to spend the night at a friend's house wondering if I would have anything to go home to in the morning. I only got about an hour's sleep that night. Worst night of my life. Luckily our house was spared (just), but about 50 neighbouring houses were destroyed. One person died. It was a pretty dramatic day.

 

Was that in Colorado? I lived in Colorado Springs between august and November in 2009. I am glad I moved and didn't have to see that. Sorry if that happened to you, I was so worried about everyone down there.

[JhonHipster 124]

Where I live the worst thing that happens is forest fires and severe wind storms, the worst they cuase is power outages (up to week long).

 

There was a small earthquake earlier this year that was one of the first I felt. Where I lived(hive or take 150k from the epicenter) there wasn't much more then aiming shacking and a couple cups fell to the floor and broke.

 

Another time we where fishing at the edge of open water when a svere lightning storm started up only 5 km offshore. As we watched the storm a number of boats where on the VHF radio talking about how the where right in the middle of trying to get back to the safety of inshore waters. Supposedly 1 boat was struck yet I have no idea what ended up happening to it, all though I think it caught fire and burnt up.

 

The previous night we considered going offshore fishing. Had we gone along with it, we to would have been in the middle of the storm

Edited August 22, 2012 by jarrod989

[Lex 33]

Was that in Colorado? I lived in Colorado Springs between august and November in 2009. I am glad I moved and didn't have to see that. Sorry if that happened to you, I was so worried about everyone down there.

 

No, I live in Australia. But I heard about the fires in Colorado as well. Those were terrible. Believe it or not, we hear about a lot of the natural disasters in America on our news, even here on the other side of the world.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,802]

I didn't experience a full on tornado but I did experience a MASSIVE storm that could have turned into a tornado and I had to run thru it, me and my family were at a hotel and we decided to go out for dinner and there was a place just across a parking lot and the storm rolled in when we were there and the restaurant was full so we figured we would walk back to the hotel so we wouldn't be stuck in the rain, but about half way there a huge wave of sand hit us and we had to run to the hotel when we could barely see and the wind was SUPER strong. anywho when the storm was over we looked out the window and the storm had blown down a fence and pulled shingles of roofs.

this is the best video that could find to show you how the clouds looked, Cool but very scary

Edited August 22, 2012 by Flame Dancer

[My little pwny 1,392]

Not even an hour ago there was a lightning strike 100 feet from my house. We felt the impact and the electricity in the house was almost surged. The thunderstorm is still going on, so I guess that goes under "Severe thunderstorm."

[brian577 120]

6 years ago a large grass fire nearly hit my hometown in Nebraska. This is how close it came to town

The large building is the local college highrise dorms.

 

The evacation line came up to my street. I stayed up till about 5 in the morning before going to bed after the fire was successfully routed around the town. Needless to say I was seriously freaked out, and I get nervous every time there is a fire in the area.

Edited August 22, 2012 by brian577

[Dice The Titanic Brony 68]

Ive been through a blizzard in manitoba that had temperatures of -47 degrees celsius (In the us i think thats about -52 degrees fahrenheit)

School was cancelled, everything shut down and one person froze to death in a field not far from my house.

Ive also had a tornado touch and go outside my temporary school (located at the fire hall, the reason for this was because my original one was flooded in the worst flood in over 116 years.) anyways, i was sitting on the fender of the pumper truck when my bud went "Dude look a pointy cloud".

I went wtf and looked out the garage window to see a funnel clous slowly descending downwards.....

And so I said " teacher, is it time to panic yet"

He just stared at the cloud.

Luckily it only touched for a second and then it was gone.

Now that i live in halifax i can expect hurricanes.......lovely.

[Elizapony 234]

When I was 3 or 4, I was in Illinois... or Kentucky or Oklahoma... lol I can't remember which state I was in. Anyway, I was staying with my family in a hotel one night and I was looking out the window, petrified, because there was a fairly large F3 outside. It was several hundred feet away, but close enough to scare the pants off me, and I've been terrified of tornadoes ever since.

 

Not a terribly thrilling story, but I was 3... so maybe the details are wrong.. lol. I don't know, but I remember seeing it.

[TheFabulousPony 102]

I live in Australia, which is never short of such things. I have been through about... oh gosh... maybe..between 5-7 cyclones maybe? (hurricanes). It was scary at first, but it is now more of an irritation at the most lol Even though everyone still freaks out. We always have fires near us in the dry season as well (most of them controlled though).

[SrFrog 927]

The only time I've experience an earthquake was during the middle of the night. Funny thing is, I just thought it was my brother shaking my bed and what did I do? Wake up to punch him in the back. It wasn't until the next day when I found out about the earthquake.

[DashingRainbow36 264]

The only time I've experience an earthquake was during the middle of the night. Funny thing is, I just thought it was my brother shaking my bed and what did I do? Wake up to punch him in the back. It wasn't until the next day when I found out about the earthquake.

 

That is hilarious. I bet your brother was pissed.