Evacuating an entire Major City

[GMT 389]

El Burro, I'm certain it was El Hierro back then (well, it's not me, but thats the isle they talked about in the documentation back when I watched it sometime about a year ago) but you're not wrong at all since today, Cumbre Vieja on La Palma is the bigger threat, or at least is handled as the bigger one.

But all in all, it's the canaries that are really threatening the eastern us coastline

[patriots_1228 51]

sorry buddy, but, chances are if NY is hit by some disaster, so will boston, and vice versa.

If A large tidal wave were to hit the east coast I think Pittsfield Mass (Berkshires) would get hit with NYC (14 mil?) and the Boston Metro area (8 mil?). Move Over China, we got the worlds most populated place

[Artman94 2]

hey...um, how far will that little tidal wave move over the east coast? that's a scary thought....

[BurroDiablo 222]

Originally posted by: Artman94 hey...um, how far will that little tidal wave move over the east coast? that's a scary thought....quote>

All the way up and 100 miles inland. It'll also hit alot of other places too, like the East coasts of South and Central America, and the West coasts of Europe and Africa, although, the damage will be alot less, possibly only reaching 5-10 miles inland. US will be hit the hardest.

[your_adress_here 11]

What about eastern Canada?

Just curious how we'd be affested.

[MrCinatit 30]

Originally posted by: 830point35 In the CNN classic movie, "Katrina," the evacuation of New Orleans went swimmingly.quote>

That was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the title. And the region still has not recovered, and communities which took on Katrina victims are still recovering - and as Ski said, the evacuation of a New York City, for instance, would be even more damaging.

The mass panic of I Am Legend was probably a rather realistic portrayal of what would happen should there be a mass evacuation of a large metropolis - especially the people leaping onto helicopters in panic.

Depending on the event, it is doubtful an evacuation would get far. Remember, in I Am Legend, they had a couple of days to evacuate (though it failed). It would have taken a few days for the killer storms to reach population in The Day After Tomorrow.

Realistically, any event which would warrant a mass-evacuation would probably happen too quickly for that evacuation to take place. A tsunami would reach the coast in a matter of hours. As we have seen recently, it is difficult enough telling if a meteor will strike an entire planet, let alone try to figure out where it would hit. Much of that time would actually probably be spent on evacuating "key personnel" before the rest of the general population was informed - if it is even informed in the first place (some might think the resulting panic from an evacuation would actually be worse than the disaster itself).

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: MrCinatit

(some might think the resulting panic from an evacuation would actually be worse than the disaster itself).quote>

This approach is already taking place on a smaller scale.  These days, in most offices buildings, the entire building is not evacuated when a fire alarm goes off.  Usually, it's just the floor where the alarm was triggered, the floor above it, and the floor below it.  The other floors are not evacuated unless there is a proven problem and, by that time, evacuation can be more difficult.

The reasoning is that evacuation itself can cause more injuries in most cases.  "Most cases" being the alarm was triggered by a bag of popcorn being left in the microwave too long.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

The tidal waves from a very large event can travel 500 miles an hour. The largest waves amount to only a ripple in the open ocean, boats at sea would be unaffected. They only rise when they get to shallow waters. If you can envision 500' (155m) tall waves that travel 500 miles an hour (800kph) hitting any coastal area, that approximates a large asteroid hitting the ocean.

These waves would cross the ocean in just a few hours, making large-scale evac nearly impossible. A wave of that size, if hitting the West Coast, would lap at the foothills of the Cascade mountains some 90 miles inland.

This scenario was described in detail in the book The End Of Days by Pat Robertson (among many other books and movies). I don't agree with some of the theology presented, but the meteor strike was described in a scientifically sound manner.

When the tsunami warning system on the Oregon coast has a false alarm, some [Edited for vulgar language] will actually run down to the beach to watch.

[Hahayoudied 3]

Many people chose not to evacuate because of too many false evacuation. Tidal wave alarm system isn't correct all the time. The system can detect all tidal waves that been generated, but the system is only 25% accurate, 75% of the time, the alarm is false. As a result, people stop evacuating when they experence too many false alarms.

[krbe 193]

If there's one thing fairytales are supposed to tell us, it has to be that you never builds a tsunami warning system with more false alarms than real ones.

[Danlikebooks 6]

Well, in Cincinnati, OH, every day is constant gridlock on ALL of the highways.  And each winter whenever it snows, it takes about four to five to go twenty miles on the highways.  The government is always messing, putting salt on the roads and then the next day sets a record for hottest day ever, so when the snows actually come, its hell.

So if Cincinnati ever had to be evacuated, I would probably just walk.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Danlikebooks

Well, in Cincinnati, OH, every day is constant gridlock on ALL of the highways.  And each winter whenever it snows, it takes about four to five to go twenty miles on the highways. quote>

Exactly.  When typical, non-disaster days are like this, why would a semi-panicked evacuation work?

[jarrod 0]

hi i live in Durban South Africa and i just wanted to add a little something. i pressume you all know of Johannesburg our largest city, well in about 10 yrs the population of that city will reach approx 20 million people. and guess what the entire city sits on top of mine shafts and tunnels that are both in use and abandonned. the abandonned ones are collapsing and the city is also frequently jolted by earthquakes. now imagin a city of that size simply dissappering before your eyes. to make matters worse Jo'burg has the most nightmarish traffic jams in Africa they possibly rivel those jams in New Yorks 5th avenue. so in this case evacuation is impossible.

[patriots_1228 51]

yikes^

a 155 m tidal wave? Quick! to the empire state building!

[BurroDiablo 222]

Originally posted by: patriots_1228 yikes^

a 155 m tidal wave? Quick! to the empire state building! quote>

It would probably stand up to it as well... unlike these flimsy glass buildings we're building

Back to the Stone... ah, Brick Age!

[GMT 389]

well, as for a tidal wave trying to destroy the us of a and canada (just to even it up again ), with the same cause as the one I presented you, is predictable as in you can actually see when the canaries are falling apart, so there's a minor to inexistant chance of getting your pityfull tailends as far inland as possible, or as high as possible, within the last 8hrs of the eastcoasts existance.

And chances are big that officials are not as stupid as shown in all those bee-movie (pun intended) disasters where the smart scientist try to safe us, but the bad officials deny any dangers until it makes bang.

but I hope you can run fast. at least until you are outside the major cities. and have a car parked there.

Just don't try to get into a plane. because airports will be explodingly overcrowded (does explodingly even exist as a word??)

oh... I don't wanna think about it.

The tidal wave of the day after tomorrow feels like a  joke compared to what can hit the eastcoast when the canaries are falling apart...

[patriots_1228 51]

i live near a mountain. Its officially a mountain by three feet. I probably need to get higher, don't I

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Evacuation of an entire city is impossible.  You can only evacuate the law-abiding citizens, and not easily because the transportation systems will only support a much lower volume than such an activity prescribes.

In any case, the others will stay to loot, at the very least.  So, if the city is subsequently destroyed, say by a nuclear holocaust, then you have the bonus of removing a lot of criminals from the gene pool.

As far as natural disasters like a tsunami, a city like L.A. could never evacuate in time.  The resulting panic will clog the freeways and other exits from the cities, mostly with people out of gas or in fender-benders blocking lanes.

Evacuation is a myth.  There is currently a program called "Paris 2010" in which the Seine floods a major part of the city.  I think it is very well done, and shows the futility of simply trying to get people out of some districts, especially in the winter.

[Ntq€310 1]

New york is actually a very good place to be in case of giant waves( if your going to be there anyway), Though the glass buildings lose there glass, there main strength is thhe steel inside, there meant so the building wont fall( even though the glass below will kill), so being up high is a very good place in that case, unfortantly most people will get in there car, and try to go through the tunnel. Which in a hour will be like a waterway

[jarrod 0]

if a wave that high hit durban especially in 2010 it would be byebye to almost 6 million people. what makes it worse is the mozambiqeu channel which brings the indian ocean down a very narrow waterway. when the south-east asian tsunami hit in 2004 it raised the water level in durban harbour by 3 meters.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

Look at it this way:  ...We're screwed.  By a canoe, everyone! 

Barbarossaquote>

Yeah, we're screwed.    But it's been that way (one way or another) since I was a kid.  You get used to it.

[City2TheMax 3]

Hmm... Well, at least we know how NOT to evacuate people (New Orleans). Let's just hope we learned from that incident. And no, I didn't watch the movie. What kind of a disaster are you talking about? It'll take different means to evacuate people from a drowning city then a burning city.

[patriots_1228 51]

Skigeek-yes. I remember my mom used to tell me the simpsons was going to make me say innapropriate things. The Simpsons. most harmless TV show on fox I've learned the last couple years have these threats aren't as real as they seem.

[Taylor1 0]

Originally posted by: Ntq$310 Lol, most of the area would be a ghost town within a hourquote>

Now this could work!

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: patriots_1228

 I've learned the last couple years have these threats aren't as real as they seem.quote>

Oh, they're real.  Some of them, at least.

It's just that, after decades of hearing one "we're doomed" scenario after another, I can't get spazzed out about them anymore.

[hym 358]

Originally posted by: SkiGeek

Originally posted by: patriots_1228

 I've learned the last couple years have these threats aren't as real as they seem.quote>

Oh, they're real.  Some of them, at least.

It's just that, after decades of hearing one "we're doomed" scenario after another, I can't get spazzed out about them anymore.quote>

Indeed.  Anyone remember the avian flu pandemic that was supposed to be killing us all off by now?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: hym

Indeed.  Anyone remember the avian flu pandemic that was supposed to be killing us all off by now?quote>

 

Interesting how people panic over 130 deaths most of who were older or

practicing unsafe poltry handleing such as  a couple cases in Vietnam or china  ( I forget which)

were the  ones who died drank the blood of the infected bird.

They say this virus has mutated to the point were it only needs 2or 3 more mutations to affect Humans with little to no contact withthe infected birds. (  though the air im guessing )

Link   (edited so it doesn't stretch the page)

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The doomsday scenario we have always had with us.  The Christian world was convinced that the year 1000 would be the second coming of Christ.  Hah!

The same prediction was made for the year 2000.  Again, hah!

All calendars are arbitrary.  Ours was invented by Julius Caesar then fixed sometime in the middle ages when it was discovered the long division in Roman numerals was fraught with error.  In those days it was easier to do it with geometry and a pair of dividers.

Since evacuation, except for a vital few, is such a mess, consider it like a military strategy.  Goes out the window when the battle is first joined.  That is why you have tacticians on the field.

[Ntq€310 1]

i say we find the thing that people in general just hate, and i mean hate. And say that thing/or person is about to be dictator of you city/ area.

That should get a good amount of poeple out of the area.. Imagine G.Bush becoming mayor of your town for life, i would leave