Blacksmith101
Grumpy Old Man
- Jun 22, 2012
- 20,530
I came across some estimates for the recovery time for a major disaster which I thought I would share. This is one paragraph from a much longer article about an earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the Pacific Northwest.
"Wineglasses, antique vases, Humpty Dumpty, hip bones, hearts: what breaks quickly generally mends slowly, if at all. OSSPAC estimates that in the I-5 corridor it will take between one and three months after the earthquake to restore electricity, a month to a year to restore drinking water and sewer service, six months to a year to restore major highways, and eighteen months to restore health-care facilities. On the coast, those numbers go up. Whoever chooses or has no choice but to stay there will spend three to six months without electricity, one to three years without drinking water and sewage systems, and three or more years without hospitals. Those estimates do not apply to the tsunami-inundation zone, which will remain all but uninhabitable for years."
Link to the complete article (thanks to Joppaj for originally posting it in the NorCal Earthquake thread):
www.newyorker.com
"Wineglasses, antique vases, Humpty Dumpty, hip bones, hearts: what breaks quickly generally mends slowly, if at all. OSSPAC estimates that in the I-5 corridor it will take between one and three months after the earthquake to restore electricity, a month to a year to restore drinking water and sewer service, six months to a year to restore major highways, and eighteen months to restore health-care facilities. On the coast, those numbers go up. Whoever chooses or has no choice but to stay there will spend three to six months without electricity, one to three years without drinking water and sewage systems, and three or more years without hospitals. Those estimates do not apply to the tsunami-inundation zone, which will remain all but uninhabitable for years."
Link to the complete article (thanks to Joppaj for originally posting it in the NorCal Earthquake thread):

The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest
When the Cascadia fault line ruptures, it could be North America’s worst natural disaster in recorded history.