Which natural disasters have you experienced?

[politicus]

Blizzards (Greenland)/Hurricane (Vanuatu). We have hurricans and blizzards in Denmark, but not the really bad ones.

[Hatman 🍁]

Albany gets lots of minor floods because large portions of our combined sewer system are operating at well beyond the limits of their design life and capacity.

The worst natural disaster I've experienced was the 1998 Ice storm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Ice_Storm_of_1998

Ugh... my family in Northern New York was without power for over a week and we knew people in slightly more isolated territory who went nearly a month without it.

We were without power for a total of 48 non consecutive hours. It got kind of cold in the home, but we survived. I think I got to miss a week of school. We missed a lot of school that year, as there was also the two-week long teacher's strike in the Fall.

[Lumine]

The 2010 Earthquake in Chile.

[morgieb]

Probably not much more than a heavy storm.

[retromike22]

The 2010 Earthquake in Chile.

Wow. What was that like?

[RI]

Earthquake, Flood, and Wildfire.

[Sol]

I've experienced several, but none of them have been actually too significant--minor blizzards, wee earthquakes, etc.

[Lumine]

The 2010 Earthquake in Chile.

Wow. What was that like?

Well, it was rather surreal when it comes to my personal experience, because despite living pretty close to the most damaged zones I didn't have to face any negative consecuences beyond the shock of the first days. I was lucky in the sense that the city in which I lived was spared of the worst type of damage due to the terrain (and the other cites of the region ended up badly damaged) and I didn't have to go through the horror that some faced when their houses were destroyed or when the tsunami claimed so many lives.

If I recall correctly I was asleep in the second floor of my house when it started, and for the first moments I barely gave any attention to it, until everything started to shake and my mother started to scream for me and my brother to go outside. Ridiculous as it might seem I didn't want to leave my room and I actually took the time to secure my computer and my bookshelf and prevent them from falling to the floor. Then I had to climb down the stairs while everything moved and wait for it to end at the main door.

Because the city was somewhat protected by the terrain and the house was well built I believe the only thing that broke down was a vase (which is ridiculous when you compare with the devastation of the coastal zones), and I spent the rest of the night feeling a bit nonchalant because I was really unaware of how bad it had really been. It took two or three days for electricity to return and in the meantime I realized just how bad it was by listening to the radio and seeing the damaged areas of the city, and once internet returned I had the shock of seeing the worst parts of the aftermath.

From there on it was about a year or so of constant aftershocks, and I guess the more memorable one (leaving the early one in the middle of President Piñera's inaguration day aside) was one that came while I was on the beach a year after, in a zone that had been badly damaged. Needless to say the beach was empty within the minute as everybody ran in fear of another tusnami (my mother included, I remained nonchalant), and for many people than sense of paranoia was really hard to ignore. I suppose the bright side (if any personal bright side can be found in such and event) is that I was in a good place to face the earthquake, and I discovered that I could remain very calm during those situations, which is a bit surreal if one thinks about it...

[dead0man]

Really depends on how you define things.  Despite spending 36ish of my 41ish years in tornado country, I've never seen one and the closest I've been is a couple of miles.

I've felt a couple of earthquakes, but nothing serious.

I've evacuated for 2 hurricanes and stayed through a couple of tropical storms, but I've never really experienced one.

I lived near the Mississippi in 93, but my house wasn't underwater (was without water for 2 weeks, so I certainly suffered, but it's obviously not the same thing).

I'm pretty sure I've been out in a blizzard a time or three, but I don't recall anything specific.  I've driven a lot in heavy, windy, can't see sh**t snow.

[muon2]

Flood - my area is flat enough that 10" of rain in a 48 hour period will cause flooding. 2008 was a recent example that was pretty bad. Basements flooded and roads were impassable. I stood in a nearby front yard in calf-deep water. Some businesses never recovered when the Great Recession hit that year.

Tornado - I was golfing in 2007 when an F-1 tornado passed about a half mile away. It formed very suddenly near my location and there was no siren. We saw the black skies and left the course anyway due to the fierce wind.

Hurricane - I was in Boston for Gloria in 1985 (cat 1/TS) and drove through Andrew in 1992 as a TS in TN.

Blizzard - more than I can count, including one that put enough snow on my roof to cause insurable damage.

Other - microburst in 2012 that was more damaging than the F-1 tornado I mentioned above, We had no power for three days. I'll also list the 2014 polar vortex since in my area it caused transportation systems to fail, insulated pipes to freeze, and major economic damage.

[Cranberry]

Apparently the only one here that ever experienced an avalanche, I did not experience any other. I did see many avalanches, and once also went skiing when one got down next to me, luckily no one was trapped in it - don't know if you would count that as experienced, I would say so.

[DemPGH]

Blizzards like you wouldn't believe and I'd have to say minor flooding. Western PA gets more rain than people think it does, and I've seen hours long torrential downpours leave streets and basements flooded. Thankfully, I've only ever had a bit of water in mine, but I know plenty of people who have been flooded. Usually the rain here is like 24 hours of slow steady rain which doesn't flood, but May-June can be monsoon season.

[TDAS04]

I can't say I've really experienced a tornado, even though I live just inside tornado alley.  I've been through some tornado warnings, though.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I live in Ireland

[afleitch]

I live in Ireland

So you've lived through the traumatic experience of a tree hitting a parked car.

[Torie]

As a former Californian, quakes and wildfires of course. I have yet to experience a real blizzard yet here in the Hudson Valley - the most beautiful river valley in America bar none.

[Mr. Illini]

Blizzards, including a handful that could be classified as natural disasters. Snowmaggedon, the worst that I have experienced, dropped 26in in 12 hours on us back in 2011 (TexasGurl, I think you got the year wrong).

Tornados, plenty of warnings but the one time I can say I experienced one was when one made ground ~3 miles from home. North of the city gets a lot of warnings but they don't materialize as much as they can in the southern suburbs, fingers crossed. But, that one was real and scary.

Minor flooding. Can't say I've lived through any flooding that has been substantial.

[7,052,770]

I was in the Georgia Dome when a tornado hit it.

[Ban my account ffs!]

We have some of the most extreme weather on earth. 

During a twofer event in July 1995...a derecho complex formed across North Dakota and hit my house.  The summer of 1995 had been unusually hot in June and early July...the epicenter in Chicago where people were dying every day.

The 2nd morning...July 14th, 1995 in the early morning hours a storm with 100mph straightline winds pushed down 100 trees over our hiking/nordic ski trails and 14 over the 1km entrance road.  The wind was so strong the large windows on our log house were bowing in and out.

Since only the storm of July 2nd, 2012 was worse
http://youtu.be/htDgE8bwhGg
This video is insidious because you dont realize how strong the wind is until the entire forest around his house begins falling down.  When a tree hits his house and nearly him...he goes in and says 'better get in the basement...yeah...everythings comin d...

[anvi]

Earthquake, flood, blizzard, hurricane and tornado.  Could have put wildfires for all the summers I stayed in San Diego, but when I was there, none threatened, fortunately.  The hurricanes I experienced were mostly weak remnants, and the tornados I've seen first hand were small ones from a distance.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

30 cm floods when I as a kid, got to leave with the firemen truck.

As a kid, I was always kinda jealous that catastrophes never happen where I live...