Hey Pandas, Have You Survived A Natural Destruction? (Closed)

1980 mt. st. helen's eruption. i was living in washington and had been paying attention to the reports of an imminent eruption. i was in the process of moving out of the area to one of the coastal islands. it felt like a race against time. the truck had been loaded up the night before so the only things that were left in the house were our sleeping bags, small bag with clothes, and a coffee pot with mugs. i got up and started to make coffee when there was this deep rumbling vibration and then three loud 'booms' as if there was a cannon being shot. i turned on the radio in the truck and it was reported that the volcano had just erupted. i ran back into the house yelling for everyone to get up, grab their stuff and get into the truck and car. i don't think i ever moved that fast without coffee in my life. we managed to stay ahead of the ash fallout as we weren't too close to the mountain. once we got to the coast and checked into a hotel we watched t.v. and saw the place we had left. it was surreal seeing everything coated with ash. while we were never in real physical danger in regards to being in the path of the slide we knew that if we had delayed our departure there would have been a good chance for the vehicles to have issues due to ash. so, while it wasn't an exact 'survival' situation it was one that i won't forget.

Yes. Super cyclone 'Amphan' in 2020.

Closest I came was during the 1977 Johnstown Flood. At the time, I was living south of Johnstown, and working north of Johnstown. I was taking my normal route to work (state road 160), crossed over a narrow bridge, and further down the road, had to turn back due to the flood. Shortly after I got back across that bridge, it got washed out. Not a particularly close call, but close enough for me.

I've been lucky not to be caught in any of the bushfires, floods or cyclones that have happened in Australia in the last few years. My stepdad was a volunteer firefighter during the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983 though. He came close to death when fire changed direction and cut off their truck at one point but made it out alive. What he saw and the friends he lost during it took a big toll on him though and he still lives with some of the mental trauma. There was a tv series called Fires made after the Black summer bushfires in 2020 that was based on a lot of real stories and was very powerful. My stepdad tried watching the first episode, which I think was about a truck being surrounded by fire, and it was too much for him, too true to life. After watching the series myself, I can understand at least a little bit why it was so traumatic.

2011 Tohoku earthquake, luckily nowhere near the coast for the tsunami afterwards

Lots of times. I've survived multiple major earthquakes, including two over 7.0. I've also survived a few flash floods, wild fires and a hurricane. Once I was trapped in my car on a road that was flooded. The road ahead was washed out and the cars were bumper to bumper and there was no way to turn around as the water kept rising. Slowly the cars behind me were cleared and by the time it was my turn the water was to the bottom of my doors.

Western North Carolina Hurricane Helene storm. Over a thousand homes have been destroyed, countless apartment buildings have been condemned, & thousands of people have been affected. Months later and people are still sleeping in tents in the snow. I'm one of the lucky ones and I have a type of survivor's guilt.... I got lucky and got help pretty quickly because of my physical disabilities. But there are so many people who should be in hotels or in their own camper and out of the freezing temperatures.

No, I didn't.

Biden's presidency