Worst Natural Event/Disaster?

[Aurik]

Hey everyone,

Given the earthquake that just hit the East Coast and the hurricane that's trying to follow in its wake, my question is:

What's the worst natural event/disaster you've been through?

For me it's easy. June 15, 1991, Subic Bay. At the time I was doing a NROTC scholarship at college, and part of that involves a 4 week training cruise over the summer. I picked (and got) submarines, so they sent me to pick up a sub at Subic Bay. It was a very eventful trip. I got to fly from St Louis (where I lived at the time) to Detroit to Tokyo Narita to Okinawa, catch a van from there to Kadena AFB, stayed overnight in the BOQ at Kadena, and then caught a flight from Kadena to Subic. As we overflew the island of Luzon, you could see Mt. Pinatubo spitting up a small column of ash. Nothing really to worry about, right? There was a little ash on the ground here and there, but nothing TOO exciting.

That all changed that evening. That evening, Pinatubo erupted BIG time, and at the same time Typhoon Yunya hit. The sky was raining something between wet sand and mud, with some small rocks thrown in for good measure. The power kept going on and off all night long, and as midshipmen we were stuck in the BOQ. We had nothing to eat there except frozen meals which we heated up with a candle, and we could feel the rocks pelting the roof of the building. Early the next morning, we made a dash for the submarine (in a vehicle, fortunately) and tried (mind you TRIED) to leave. All sorts of things kept going wrong; primarily the ASW (Auxiliary Sea Water) pump kept clogging up, so they would have to periodically reverse it to force the sand back into the bay.

The other members of the crew had even more exciting times -- apparently the ladies of the areas dropped their "bar fines" to $1 (yeah, a buck!), and a number of guys partook. Unfortunately, some of the guys were in the barracks when the roof collapsed from the weight of the sand and mud on top of it.

We got to spend the next week doing "Field Days" getting the sub cleaned up, and I pulled the duty of cleaning out the forward escape trunk... which is where everyone had been entering and leaving the sub the entire time of the eruption. Needless to say those were VERY LONG DAYS.

Soooo... who's next?

[BendtheBar]

A few years back we had a serious flood. I had to rescue my mother from, her house. The street in front of her house was a 5 foot deep river of sewage and all kinds of nastiness.

[bruteforce]

The fires in Santa Barbara, CA a few years back. 3 major ones within a few months of each other. Evacuations suck, and ash was everywhere for months.

[big valsalva]

That one tsunami a few years back. Where was it, Indonesia? Katrina too. Can't forget Katrina.

[big_swede]

The birth of this SOB

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by big_swede

The birth of this SOB

Squats do have magical testosterone boosting powers. The clue train left the station before he arrived.

[Aurik]

Originally Posted by big_swede

The birth of this SOB

WIN.