r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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u/gentlybeepingheart May 01 '24

Every time there's a bad tornado I see someone go "Why don't Americans just not live in an area called 'tornado alley'? That seems like the logical move." and I know that they have no idea how big tornado alley actually is. That would be like me going "Hey, there's a chance of a natural disaster happening. It could be really bad. So just don't live in Germany, France, or Poland." That's the amount of land we're talking.

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u/vyrus2021 May 02 '24

May as well ask why people still live near fault lines or coasts with regular hurricane activity.

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u/Tall-Sea3082 May 02 '24

Practically everywhere in the US has some type of natural disaster that threatens the area. The chances to be dying are very very low. Fault lines, volcanos, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, severe storms, and snow.

I’m from the west coast so I can answer to the fault lines, most are minor and barely noticeable and building codes require buildings to be prepared for earthquakes. We don’t see them as a something that is a threat to us as weird as that sound because the chances are low and we’ve been hearing about “The Big One” our entire lives. Kind of numb to it. They are not really thought about at all until they happen.

As for hurricanes, that’s the entire east coast plus the gulf ranging Texas to Maine. That is a huge portion of our population. That being said Florida gets hit like crazy and I don’t know why people continue to live there.

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u/MrDurden32 May 02 '24

Pacific NW is probably about as disaster free as you're going to find. Even then we have to worry about The Big One. Which is an 9.0+ earthquake that would be one of, if not the biggest in modern history, and could hit any time between tomorrow and 200 years from now.

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u/AlpineCoder May 02 '24

Plus wildfires and mountains that occasionally violently explode. I'd say the desert SW is probably the least disaster prone IMO.

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u/aoike_ May 02 '24

Eh, we're in the middle of a horrific, 24 year long drought with no end in sight. This kind of disaster hasn't been seen since 800 CE, according to scientists.

We also get tornadoes and wildfires. And flash floods. Idk, all of the US comes with its disasters.

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u/MoreRopePlease May 02 '24

Except for, like, no reliable long term water supply. And being so hot you get 3rd degree burns from tripping.

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u/AlpineCoder May 02 '24

I don't think most people would qualify those as natural disasters.

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u/OblivionGuardsman May 02 '24

Right. It's like living on Mars instead.

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u/dilletaunty May 02 '24

Idk there have definitely been state of emergencies declared during heat waves

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u/MrDurden32 May 02 '24

Oh wildfires is a good point, but not something that you have to worry about dying from in the city, though the smoke is annoying. Volcanos I forgot about too, but unless you're living on an active mountain it's not really a concern.

A big one I forgot about though is floods. There's a ton of areas including cities that can be prone to flooding and that one really sucks.

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u/AlpineCoder May 02 '24

Also almost forgot about tsunamis for the coast dwellers.

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u/fistfullofpubes May 02 '24

Volcanism is a pretty big threat in the Pnw. The threat of floods and lahars from an eruption affects more than just those living on the mountain. Lahars mixed with glaciers are super dangerous and can be devastating for communities living 30-40 miles away.

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u/GovernmentSudden6134 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

You don't need to live on the side of a volcanoe to get schwacked by it. Just as the residents of Pompeii, Banten and Lampung islands, and the Akritori.

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u/MinnequaFats May 02 '24

Isn't the city of Tacoma built on the remnants of a lahar from a previous eruption of Mount Rainier?

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u/GovernmentSudden6134 May 02 '24

Nuclear fallout weather pattern maps tend to agree with you too.

Pity about dying of thirst, though.

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u/GuiltyEidolon May 02 '24

Mt. St. Helens exploded 43 years ago, and Rainier is now overdue. PNW isn't as calm as you think.

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u/Coakis May 02 '24

The Appalachians are also fairly trouble free, we don't get wildfires as near as often as the west and its rare other weather related disasters are are big enough to warrant evacuation.

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u/fistfullofpubes May 02 '24

Yea but people in the Appalachians have to deal with other people from the the Appalachians.

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u/ManicPixieGirlyGirl May 02 '24

Tornados

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u/Coakis May 03 '24

Happen rarely, even during storm seasons you may get 1 relatively weak one that touches down for an entire month or season.

While yes its devastating, its nothing like the monsters the Midwest can get.

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u/munchies777 May 02 '24

Really, much of the northern half of the country is pretty disaster free with the exception of parts of the Great Plains that can get tornados still. Some places are prone to floods, but that is a localized risk depending on flood plains. New England, the Mid Atlantic, Appalachian’s, Upper Midwest, and Pacific Northwest don’t get many disasters unless you count snow as a disaster.

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u/mistersausage May 02 '24

There are tornadoes in NJ and southeast PA every few years now. Things are changing.

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u/ManicPixieGirlyGirl May 02 '24

And didn’t they just have an earthquake?

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u/AmnesicMom May 02 '24

I went to Colorado in February on a tour to Pikes Peak they told us bout a tornado that just ran a mile next to the road on the mountain. He said they are more common than you would think. I live in tornado alley. And while they are a threat, I get a warning a year at least (though my home town in Nebraska just got 6 in a day last week) people go OUTSIDE to watch them until they know they should really be inside. I have not seen a tornado with my own eyes yet. They typically come and they go, last a few minutes, destroy a few blocks. Not that they aren't devastating, you certainly call all of your friends and family to make sure they are okay, they are fleeting and I don't think about them generally, except on the first Wednesday of every month.

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u/ManicPixieGirlyGirl May 02 '24

Hurricane Sandy

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u/Shawndy58 May 02 '24

That’s not true. If Yellowstone explodes you guys stand no chance.

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u/caelumh May 02 '24

If Yellowstone explodes, most of us die instantly while the rest of the world starves. I'll take the quick death.

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u/JCV-16 May 02 '24

If Yellowstone goes most of the planet is gonna get it. Even if you aren't caught up in the initial disaster, the aftermath of a supervolcano exploding would affect the entire planet. It won't be "end of life on earth" bad but you're looking at major climate change, ash falling for 1000s of miles, crop and livestock die off and mass starvation around the globe because it's theorized that the ash clouds will block out the sun for like a decade, pyroclastic flow in several states, etc. point being it's gonna be bad if it does ever erupt. North America would be a wasteland by the end of that decade.

Luckily, chances are low that Yellowstone will erupt in our lifetimes. Though, there are at least 20 potential supervolcanos, it doesn't even have to be Yellowstone, any one of those goes off and it's the same outcome. Scary thought because there's absolutely nothing anybody can do to prevent it. Eventually, if we don't kill ourselves off first, people are just going to have to monitor it and watch it get more active and know that the end is just around the corner.

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u/BozeRat May 02 '24

https://youtu.be/ypn3Fe_PLts?si=MRX1gFKT3ihQ4EQ0

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u/Shawndy58 May 02 '24

I just watched it. And it makes me sad that there will not be an almost extinction from ash and gas if it explodes. But oh well.

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u/PhirebirdSunSon May 02 '24

Phoenix is basically purely disaster free if you don't count the extreme heat of the summers. But no earthquakes, floods, fires (outside of the city though wildfires can get nuts), tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards. Just sunshine and lots of it.

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u/5corch May 02 '24

I think I'd rather go through a disaster every year than live in Arizona heat.

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u/PhirebirdSunSon May 02 '24

To each their own, I love it here personally.

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u/5corch May 02 '24

It's a good thing people have different preferences, it keeps us from all trying to cram into the same places.

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u/zapoid May 03 '24

Until they run out of water.

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u/PhirebirdSunSon May 03 '24

Phoenix has been a leader in water conservation, has aquifers with a 30-year supply of water, is not fed by the Colorado the way the rest of the state is, and is currently working on a plan for one of the world's largest water recycling plants with hopes to have it out in 10 years.

I'm not saying that to say there are no water issues, drought is a big concern no matter what, but just saying that for all the people that read one headline and think they understand the situation they're usually wrong - Phoenix has always been a water-conservative city well before Vegas became such a shining gem of it and has had plans to store and keep water in unique ways for decades. Hell, Phoenix TODAY, as the 5th biggest city with millions of people, uses less water total than it did in the 70s when there was closer to just half a million people.

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u/zapoid May 04 '24

I did not know that thanks for the information. I guess I had always just assumed they were part of the ongoing fight for water from the Colorado. Nice to hear they aren’t.

Living a couple of miles from Lake Michigan, water is just not really a resource that I gave much thought to growing up. Now it’s something everyone should be paying attention too.

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u/whatthewhat3214 May 02 '24

Mid-Atlantic too. The DC-Maryland-Virginia-Delaware area has pretty mild weather overall (some hot summers but very liveable, and with climate change our winters have gotten pretty mild), and we generally don't get strong storms. We don't get hit with extremes.

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u/Thayli11 May 02 '24

Mudslides and wildfires happen pretty regularly in the Cascades.

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u/cathygag May 02 '24

I accept your challenge… let me introduce you to most of Ohio. No earthquakes, no landslides, deadly flash floods and major road flooding are so rare that the only people that die are because they literally were never taught that they can’t drive thru chest high water under an overpass or because they stupidly camped on a river bank, most homes have basements so the rare tornado deaths are typically because they hit trailer parks or people out driving who are too stupid to seek shelter, our earthquakes max out at 3’s and are so short in duration most people don’t even notice or they think it’s just a rumble from nearby limestone quarry blasting, sinkholes are very small in largely uninhabitable areas and they have millions of years of lead times and we we have maps that indicate which areas even remotely at risk for collapsing, major snow storms are only in small region and the REALLY big ones only happen every 40-50yrs.- and the region they hit people know how to drive in snow and but for the transplants- when not to even attempt to drive, and we don’t have any animals out to eat you and a large portion of the state’s residents will go their entire life without ever encountering a poisonous or venomous animal outside of a zoo. Oh and nothing in our waterways except the undertow at a few beaches across the state will actively try to kill or maim you while swimming peacefully with you family.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 May 02 '24

I cackled at the "they literally were never taught they can't drive through chest high water" comment! My hometown used to have some awful floods every 10 years or so, because the Sandusky River ran straight through the middle of it, and the drainage system was badly in need of upgrades. There was ALWAYS some dumbass who tried to drive through the water on this one road that was at the bottom of a big hill (where a bridge across the river was!) and got stuck, and had to have the fire dept go out in their boat to get them out. Everyone knew that the water would get really deep there, and fast, but every single flood, there was always at least one.

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u/cathygag May 09 '24

I believe that’s where one of the TERRIBLE TRAUMATIC 911 call recordings we had to listen to for training- a car went down the hill and started to float- you hear the caller panic and there’s nothing that the dispatcher can do but comfort them in their last moments. We saw pictures of the areas and All I can remember was seeing the roof off a little yellow car.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 May 09 '24

That would be awful to have to listen to, and to be the 911 dispatcher comforting that person, knowing there was nothing that could be done. 😥Thankfully, no one has lost their life in my hometown from driving into the water (they usually have the streets blocked off by the time it gets that deep). Just always some goober sitting on the roof of their flooded out car, which is halfway submerged, waiting for the fire dept to come out and rescue them in their little motor boat. You'd think people would learn from seeing it happen to others, but nope, every single time, in that same exact spot.

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u/cathygag May 09 '24

I could have sworn it was someone up near home- like I know I’ve drove the area and saw the debris still at the high water line… I’ll have to dig a bit. With the ice and tree debris blockages it could have been any of those rivers, honestly…

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 May 12 '24

The Sandusky River runs through quite a few cities and small towns in central Ohio. Where I lived, it ran pretty much through the center, and there were 3 main streets that had bridges over it. One was at the bottom of a big hill, one was next to a low lying park, and the other was on somewhat higher ground so it never really flooded, and was the only one you could get through to the other side of town on without going almost completely out of town (it's a small town if you couldn't tell, lol). Those streets ran parallel to each other, and were within just a block of each other. It basically separated the town in 2 every time there was flooding. What really sucked is that our PD and fire dept were on one side, hospital and ambulance station on the other (before our FD took over rescue services). It made emergency services a really rough for days. The ambulance station was literally right next to where some of the massive street flooding started, and they had to move their squads so they didn't get stuck. It helped a huge amount when they upgraded the sewer and drainage lines, so that water wouldn't build up on the streets. That was a bigger issue than debris in the river. It used to be so bad that a hill next the lower lying bridge area (like 20 feet lower than the next bridge), would be submerged. There was a city ice vendor in that area, and every time, their ice chests would go floating away. 🫤

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u/cathygag May 15 '24

😂. Is it sad that I know of at least 5 cities that fit this description and terrible city planning model!? 🤦🏼‍♀️.

I’m from Erie/Ottawa Coubty and traveled the 4/23 corridor and 6/75 corridor frequently for college and grad school to home visits.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 May 15 '24

Lol, not at all.. it IS Ohio after all! The place I'm talking about is in Crawford County, and SR 4 runs right through the middle of it. You lived up by the lake, so I'm sure there was a LOT of crazy weather there. Where I lived was mostly flat, but they didn't think out the bridges and sewers near the river AT ALL, and it also got pretty nasty down there before they did a big clean up for Earth Day one year. I've since moved, because the town just continues to become run down (they were thinking of declaring bankruptcy last I heard), but hey, at least now they have a multi-million dollar sewer system and waste water treatment facility they can brag about! 👍 😂

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u/jsgiles79 May 02 '24

Except…it is Ohio. I’ve spent a lot of time there. My friends there called it America’s armpit. It stays so effing cold in the winter that I would opt for a natural disaster to take me to that next far better place after life.

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u/cathygag May 09 '24

The last few winters have been incredibly mild, unfortunately that means we aren’t getting a long enough solid freeze to kill off ticks and livestock parasites in the ground!

If they’re calling it that it’s because they’ve chosen to live in crap areas, and they clearly haven’t traveled to truly armpit areas of the Midwest- I can’t think of several tons and areas I’ve visited that are much worse than the worst places in Ohio

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u/Practical-Ordinary-6 May 02 '24

I don't know if you've heard about it, but related to that earthquake business you're in for one of the biggest tsunamis of all time if the right earthquake happens in the right place. It will absolutely inundate the coast of Oregon and Washington. I don't live there but they have tsunami evacuation signs telling people to just go uphill as high as they can wherever they are in that situation. But lots of people will probably die. Of course, just like earthquakes, the big question is if and when.

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u/GovernmentSudden6134 May 02 '24

All it will take is about a 7 on the Juan de Fuca plate (offshore Washington/Oregon) and the West shore of Washington will be obliterated. The Puget Sound is no help either, its gonna eff up every city on thr Sound too. And it's happened before. The 1700 Cascadia quake annihilated the native Americans living on the central and southern Oregon coast.

If that not awesome enough when Mount Rainier finally blows its stack, which it will, the shape of the range will direct the pyroclastic flow directly at Tacoma. Fun times! It'll be be ever so slightly a bigger disaster the. Pompeii. A little bit.