Disasters : quakes / tsunamis / State of mind

[disasterman7555]

Wasn't really sure where to put this :

I am trying to gather thoughts and peoples states of minds for a paper when facing extreme disasters and potentially devastating disasters. (It's not the happiest paper ever) - Not so much the first hand perspective, but along the lines of what the average casual person thinks about some of the scenarios / disasters that have happened recently or could happen.

I've read a lot of the articles from sites like http://www.armageddononline.org/ and Exit Mundi - I was just trying to find a community where I could gather some INTELLIGENT opinions (hopefully without trolls) to use in my paper.

Thank you much,
Josh

[Doodler]

I've been through my share of hurricanes living in the Eastern US. While you won't impress me with anything shy of Category 3, you won't be breaking my heart if you tell me to get the heck out of Dodge for a Cat 4 or worse. I've been snowed in up to my waist (yeah, yeah, snowbirds, remember, I'm a Mid-Atlantic cityboy. Frost the ground white and they cancel school for two days. ), without power for days, and I've even walked three miles in a November thunderstorm in a jogging suit. Inclement weather doesn't bother me. I know the risks, I know the consequences, and I accept them. I don't care if I have to walk, you will NOT catch me stuck in a Katrina-esque situation without a serious set of extenuating circumstances, and I won't shed a tear over a demolished house if my body is left intact. I've been to nothing, I have no problem rebuilding again. I'm not sentimental over material possessions (I've walked away from a wrecked car with nothing more than a deep sense of irritation at the dimwit that plowed into me)

I've been in a few minor catastrophes, including a high rise fire (thankfully more electrical than combustive), running down a smoke filled emergency stair from the 14th floor with a thousand or so other residents was more than enough excitement for five a.m. on a weekday, thank you very much. I don't tend towards panic. I won't say I'm fearless, I've been white knuckle scared cold more times than I care to remember, but I will never humiliate myself like people I've seen who end up being taken away from the scene of said fire in an ambulance, not from smoke inhalation, not from any physical injury, but simple mindless panic. I have never witnessed a more pathetic sight in my life, and I refuse to be party to it. Faced with a catastrophe, you might see me with a dark stain on the front of my khakis, if its traumatic enough, but I will function (I will find a change of pants), and I will get on with life. The alternative is unacceptable.

[Fazor]

Hmm... well I haven't been in any real catastophies, but am trained to deal with them. I think the most important factor in how humans deal with these kind of situations has to do with a term sometimes called groupthink. (See wiki article). Basically, en masse we react how we think everyone else will react. People band together, be it positively or negatively (think 911, when some floors had ample opportunity to escape but didn't because no one else was heading the fire alarm. no one wants to be the "Lone nut" that acts.)
If one person steps up and is strong, then the rest will follow. If the loudest voice in the crowed is cowardice or panic, then the rest will follow. Hope that helps.

[Mister Earl]

I went to Louisianna with the PA National Guard to help out last October. Which reminds me; I haven't gotten my pictures developed in my disposable cameras. I'll have to do that and post a few for you all. Couple of memorable times; First, toward the end we stayed in the Jeff Davis high school, I believe. New place. We ran a food/water/ice point, and this nice couple kept cooking for us, day after day. Being Pennsylvanians, a lot of us had problems the day after they tested out a particularly lethal variant of thier seafood gumbo. Second, midway through I happened to stop in on a reopened Walmart to stock up on razors and reading material. I had a gentleman thank me profusely for being there, and explained to me that he had just come back from a company conference in another country. He had stopped by his house and it was gone. He wanted to know of all the places we had people staying at, as he was looking for his wife and daughters. Then he tried to pay for my stuff, but I wouldn't let him. Gave him the locations of all the public buildings people were staying at, and wished him luck.

[Fazor]

I went to Louisianna with the PA National Guard to help out last October. Which reminds me; I haven't gotten my pictures developed in my disposable cameras. I'll have to do that and post a few for you all. Couple of memorable times; First, toward the end we stayed in the Jeff Davis high school, I believe. New place. We ran a food/water/ice point, and this nice couple kept cooking for us, day after day. Being Pennsylvanians, a lot of us had problems the day after they tested out a particularly lethal variant of thier seafood gumbo. Second, midway through I happened to stop in on a reopened Walmart to stock up on razors and reading material. I had a gentleman thank me profusely for being there, and explained to me that he had just come back from a company conference in another country. He had stopped by his house and it was gone. He wanted to know of all the places we had people staying at, as he was looking for his wife and daughters. Then he tried to pay for my stuff, but I wouldn't let him. Gave him the locations of all the public buildings people were staying at, and wished him luck.

Hope he found his family. This is just one of the many examples of how humans band together to get through stuff like this. It's stories of people helping people in the face of tragety that gave rise to the popular idea of "the human race casting thier problems aside and banding together in the face of an alien threat" ...which consequently gave rise to many, many horrible movies...and a few good ones.

[farmerjumperdon]

A person's state of mind during a disaster, heh? I'm going to assume you mean BIG disaster (stuff of Biblical proportions - stuff like 911, Katrina, the Indonesian Tsunami*, impact of a decent size asteroid, etc.), and that you mean people actually caught up in it (not pedestrians watching on TV).

My take on how people behave under extreme duress takes the shape of placing them in 3 categories; mostly because when doing categories, 3 works best.

CATEGORY 1: Some relatively small number simply come unglued. They become even more irrational than when things are going well and can be counted on to make things worse if not taken care of by the people in the other 2 categories.

CATEGORY 2: This is the vast bulk of the people. What they can be counted on to do is recover their senses relatively quickly, fall on their strengths (regardless of whether or not that will solve their problems), and to be good followers. They will be loyal to someone they perceive as worthy of their trust, but need to be given short rein because of the aforementioned trait of using/doing what is comfortable to them.

CATEGORY 3: These are the REAL leaders, people who do not let a little thing like death raining from the sky obscure their ability to Observe, Decide, and Do. Ice in their veins, they are usually people that most do not like in everyday life because they do not have need for external validation, and usually see validating others as a waste of precious time when there are urgent matters to attend. While everybody else is sitting around listening to everybody express their feelings and validate how wonderful everybody is(which they mostly do because they know everyone will stay and listen when it is their turn), these people are GETTING STUFF DONE. This is the person that, in the face of disaster, kicks back, takes a deep breath, and starts immediately thinking about what it will take to survive this moment, then this day, then the next, and then the week, month, year, etc.

*This may not count since the region is beset by so many disasters of Biblical proportion that it has become a part of ordinary life. I remember an Onion article that covered some sort of Big Bengladesh Bash because the country had gone 3 weeks without a disaster of epic proportions; with the ironic exception of a train carrying hundreds of people getting buried in a mudslide on the way to the party. Flip the Days-Since-Last-Disaster chart back to zero Sahib.

[Doodler]

*This may not count since the region is beset by so many disasters of Biblical proportion that it has become a part of ordinary life. I remember an Onion article that covered some sort of Big Bengladesh Bash because the country had gone 3 weeks without a disaster of epic proportions; with the ironic exception of a train carrying hundreds of people getting buried in a mudslide on the way to the party. Flip the Days-Since-Last-Disaster chart back to zero Sahib.

This forum needs a "rolling on the floor laughing" icon in the WORST way.

[danscope]

Wasn't really sure where to put this :

I am trying to gather thoughts and peoples states of minds for a paper when facing extreme disasters and potentially devastating disasters. (It's not the happiest paper ever) - Not so much the first hand perspective, but along the lines of what the average casual person thinks about some of the scenarios / disasters that have happened recently or could happen.

I've read a lot of the articles from sites like http://www.armageddononline.org/ and Exit Mundi - I was just trying to find a community where I could gather some INTELLIGENT opinions (hopefully without trolls) to use in my paper.

Thank you much,
Josh

Hi
Interesting paper. many moons ago (1967....) I was stationed at Key West,Fla where you can enjoy the latitude at 5 feet above sea level.
That's the highest point of land on that suggestion of earth they call an island. It was often on my mind , the thought that the Carribean is frought with severe volcanism, and as such has the potential to generate substantial aberations in the watercollumn . I did not know at the time that they were called Sunamis. You wouldn't get much notice, and wouldn't have any appreciable place to go to, save vertical. The center span of the BaiaHonda
bridge,I guess, would serve. But it will be busy!!
Anyway,....interesting paper. Best regards, Dan

[closetgeek]

Farmer, you hit the catagories right on the head. You missed one, however. Grant it, the worst national disaster I ever experienced were getting hit head on (Vero Beach) with two back to back hurricanes, francis (although by the time it made landfall it was a cat 1, but the damage was done because the mosnter lasted damn near three days) and Gene (weak cat 3 or strong cat 2 I don't remember). No high casualties, but a lot of frustration and discomfort. But a think the forth catagory should be the "I am the only one that this perdicament is effecting" catagory. dealing with these people has to be the worst because they are the ones that insist that for no other reason then their own selfishness, they should be at the front of every line. Everyone on line in front and behind you is just as hungry/thirsty/tired but you are somehow weaker and feel that shouting and stomping is the most effective way to obstain a higher status of neediness.

This is purely for comedic value and once again, I have managed to give absolutely nothing of worth to the original topic, but I am babbling.