More dangerous than California? Wyoming!!

I ran across this researching another topic, and believe me, I'm still stunned. Now, I'm not from the great state of Wyoming, and perhaps this isn't news to a resident there, but for me, it's eye-opening.

I ran across this document from the Homeland Security office in Wyoming. It's a study of all the potential disasters facing the state, everything from tornados and landslides to hazardous material accidents to the eruption of Yellowstone, which is projected to bury Wyoming in up to three feet of ash.

What shocked me the most was the number of active faults in the region, and the potential intensity of them. According to the report, there are five major faults capable of producing tremors of upwards of 7.5 on the richter scale. And the rest of Wyoming's faults are capable of 6.5.

What's most scary is the report's conclusion on these faults:

Most of these faults are considered overdue for activation.

And the worst area in Wyoming would be in Teton County, with

The highest dollar loss projected for a
maximum earthquake in Wyoming is almost $682 million (Teton County).

So while California waits for the proverbial Big One, Wyoming is sitting on the potential of at least five Big Ones.

LOL!!!!

DHS had billions of dollars to hand out in grants, so they asked the states to come up with a list of potential disasters, and DHS would prioritize the lists and hand out the grants accordingly. It didn't take long for some states to figure out that the longer the list the more federal handouts they could get.

Didn't Wyoming get more disaster and anti-terrorism grants per capita than any other state? Looks like Wyoming really knew how to play the game to their advantage.

LOL, it is obvious you are not living in Wyoming. This state is awesome. I moved here from Florida, and unless i am moving to a more beautiful state I won't be going back to any large metropolitan city.

The fact that we have so much wind here that it keeps at bay most tornadoes is actually good, at least in central Wyoming.

Yes Yellowstone could be a problem, but if it blows the entire world is going to suffer, almost noone in the U.S. will survive if a mayor eruption happens in Yellowstone, and I don't think you want to survive an eruption from Yellowstone because then you will slowly and surely die freezing caused by the nuclear winter which a mayor explosion from Yellowstone will create.

BTW meanwhile there have been tons of problems in the east, out here it has been wonderful. We have been having lots of rains and then beautiful days.




[edit on 12-5-2007 by Muaddib]

Originally posted by Muaddib

you will slowly and surely die freezing caused by the nuclear winter which a mayor explosion from Yellowstone will create.

I believe most people will have suffocated from the ash before the cold sets in. Ash will kill the most. Freezing might take care of the rest. And if you survive all of that, you might starve or die of thirst. Yup, a super eruption is nasty business. Not likely to happen in our lifetime, but not impossible. I believe an asteroid impact is more likely to happen. But if such a huge disaster occure, you can forget about money. We should forget about the greatest disasters in regards to money, and focus on the disasters which can be dealt with instead. IMO, they should filter out Yellowstone from their list of potentional disasters when they hand out these money. It would be too much of a disaster and money won't be much help anyway. After a catastrophic New Madrid earthquake on the other hand, money will be helpful. They should hand out more "disaster money" to those who will have to deal with those kind of potential disasters. Forget Yellowstone...