List just one thing you did today

[Mary Terry]

It's always weird to watch Americans panic over what I consider normal weather. In the meantime it is unseasonably warm here and I don't like it. I have three planned photo shoots that need snow, which has melted.

It may be "normal weather" wherever you live but it is NOT normal weather in the southern US, we are not equipped to deal with such rare and extreme weather events, and people here die from such meteorological extremes. 16 people died in my state in the past 10 days from hypothermia and/or trees falling on them and/or vehicle accidents caused by ice on roads. Go to northern American states and you'll see that they are equipped for extreme cold events because they experience them all the time.

Now, tell us how your country deals with a Category 5 hurricane. We consider that "normal weather" here. You can ask us for advice on what your panicked population needs to do to prepare for it and how to survive it. We'll try to refrain from laughing at your panic although we don't enjoy the same consideration from you.

 

[velociraptor]

Now, tell us how your country deals with a Category 5 hurricane.

We get them so rarely, hard to say. I don't think it's possible to deal with them well. The week of our honeymoon we had considered renting a trailer at a popular lake half an hour from my home.

Pine Lake tornado - Wikipedia

We do get highly destructive tornados on the praries. Toward the end of our honeymoon we were relaxing at my place and watching non-stop emergency vehicle lights go up the highway through my window (I lived on an acreage). We didn't know why until the next day. Good thing we didn't rent that caravan.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Now, tell us how your country deals with a Category 5 hurricane. We consider that "normal weather" here. You can ask us for advice on what your panicked population needs to do to prepare for it and how to survive it. We'll try to refrain from laughing at your panic although we don't enjoy the same consideration from you.

In Canada on the Nova Scotia coast I think they are prepared for storms that come in from the sea.

But if you remember, was it Hurricane Sandy that blew into New York City and surrounds. That shut everything down for weeks, if not for months.

In the Adirondacks, and I think further north, we would get cyclone bombs which would go in a straight line, unlike a hurricane and there is no warning. Like tornados, they do in a small path of utter demolition.

I remember Chicago and environs being shut down from snow the same time Bobby Kennedy was killed. So even northern states can have trouble with major snow events.

So my guess is that Canada, in general, and our northern states would not cope well with severe high wind events.

I wonder why we don't "tease" Canadians about that?

 

[Mary Terry]

I wonder why we don't "tease" Canadians about that?

Good question. Politeness?

 

[Judge]

The Reno-Tahoe area gets hurricane force winds (+74 mph) nearly every year. Occasionally causing property damage. But then our greatest perils aren't relative to weather, but rather fire and human error, along with what mother nature can do when it comes to earthquakes.

The other day I saw that where I used to live in California had a 4+ earthquake swarm on the Richter Scale. Enough to potentially cause minor property damage, yet more than enough to temporarily rattle the hell out of most humans.

Yet this pales compared to these uncommon and freakish weather patterns now being experienced in the southeastern parts of our country at the moment. Places and populations unprepared to contend with such damaging winds, ice and snow. Often with minimal revenues to pay for the expensive infrastructure required to effectively deal with such conditions.

Expensive infrastructure we maintain here, mostly given the severity of winter and high elevations through the Donner Pass towards the borders between California and Nevada, along with both states dependent on the lucrative aspect of the skiing season. Particularly given that gambling has been reduced to little more than a footnote here compared to the past.

 

[velociraptor]

We'll try to refrain from laughing at your panic although we don't enjoy the same consideration from you.

I am not laughing. I am just saying that it felt odd for me to see others in panic over what is normal to me. I realize homes in Texas are not insulated like they are here and what is mundane for us is deadly for them.

 

[Judge]

I am not laughing. I am just saying that it felt odd for me to see others in panic over what is normal to me. I realize homes in Texas are not insulated like they are here and what is mundane for us is deadly for them.

Precisely. What so many are experiencing in real time in our country is anything but "normal".

With adjectives like "freakish" being more precise in describing them. With snow so far south in agriculturally rich states like Florida...which is disastrous economically speaking apart from the toll of human lives.

Adding insult to injury over another related crisis- rising insurance costs with any number of carriers simply opting to leave the state altogether. Which is impacting most Floridians.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Good question. Politeness?

That would be a switch. Usually it is the Canadians who are more polite than us. I can tell you that driving in Canada is like a dream. Route 11 is a two lane road going through the top of the civilized part of the country, and the drivers are polite. Even the truck drivers.

 

[Judge]

I can tell you that driving in Canada is like a dream. Route 11 is a two lane road going through the top of the civilized part of the country, and the drivers are polite. Even the truck drivers.

My favorite automotive experience long ago. Riding along the Trans-Canadian Highway between Banff, Alberta and Kamloops, British Columbia. Great scenery, and perfect summer driving conditions along with polite motorists.