Category: Disasters

What’s happening at Lake Oroville?

What’s happening at Lake Oroville?

| February 12, 2017 | 2 Replies

No, I don’t mean — at least, not directly — the current problems with the concrete and emergency spillways, nor the evacuation. I mean the chart above. Look at that chart. The solid color represents the historical average of the amount of water in Lake Oroville. The sharply rising blue line represents the current (2016-2017) […]

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Ebola: the anti-lottery

Ebola: the anti-lottery

| October 16, 2014 | Reply

Millions of Americans spend roughly $50 billion a year on lottery tickets, although the chances of a big payout are, well, very slim (see this great infographic — and, yes, just keep scrolling down). But the upside is so great — millions, tens of millions, even hundreds of millions of dollars — that over 50% of […]

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FEMA blocks flood mapping effort in Colorado

FEMA blocks flood mapping effort in Colorado

| September 16, 2013 | Reply

Via Slashdot comes this slap-your-forehead story over at TechDirt: As you may have heard, Boulder, Colorado has been hit by massive flooding over the past week, and it’s been something of a mess. A local company, Falcon UAV, makers of special drones which are built for the government, approved by the FAA, and specialize in […]

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Waldo Canyon Fire — from a distance

Waldo Canyon Fire — from a distance

| June 27, 2012 | Reply

We live about 40-45 miles north-northeast of the Waldo Canyon fire, which is burning in the foothills that sit between Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak. The photo above, taken late this (Wednesday) afternoon from the deck of our house, shows the smoke above Colorado Springs. The local news is just announcing an expected containment date […]

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Keeping perspective

Keeping perspective

| March 19, 2011 | 1 Reply

Click on the chart above to see it in full size. The smallest scale is the one at the bottom (labeled (1)). Each scale above that one represents 10x the range of the scale below it. When you hear news reports about “detectable radiation that is above normally accepted limits” around the heavily damaged Fukushima […]

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Tsunami photos and footage

Tsunami photos and footage

| March 13, 2011 | Reply

[UPDATED 03/13/11 — 1809 MDT] Jerry Pournelle links to the blog of an American engineer in Japan who points out at length just how well everything has worked in Japan during and in the aftermath of the quake, with a gentle reminder of how big Japan is: Quite a lot of the reporting on Japan, […]

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