Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster

Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster by Jon Ziomek

The first half of this book provides a detailed account of the collision between two 747s in the Canary Islands. It even answers questions that I was curious about, such as "what happened to that cruise that passengers were going to go on?" (the cruise did go on, even though none of the passengers from the TWA 747 joined it.) The pilot of the KLM 747 seemed to be the root cause of the crash, with his desire to rush off as soon as possible. It is interesting that crew duty time limits were the root of his rush. Duty limits were in part an attempt at safety, but ended up leading to a disaster. The KLM noticed the TWA jet too late, and tried to take off over it. They nearly made it, but hit the top of the plane, instantly killing some on the TWA jet. The KLM jet then traveled a short distance before crash landing and killing everyone in a fireball. For those that were not killed on the TWA jet, some escaped - often by jumping out of holes in the aircraft to the ground. Many initial survivors died when the TWA plane later burned. 

In identifying the deceased, the Dutch on the KLM jet were easier to identify. They tended to be younger, and the state Dental plan records were readily available. For the TWA jet, the dental records were more not readily available for all Americans and many passengers were older and used dentures. 

The second half discusses the aftermath. There were safety changes made in aviation. More of the discussion was on the personal impact. People often "freeze" in terms of big stress. They could have escaped, but they didn't. People may be more passive and waiting for people to tell them what to do. They could also not have paid attention and are looking to go out the way they came in, rather than the closest exit. Men tend to survive at higher rates than women. People also tend to suffer in different ways after the disaster. Airplane crashes are large scale disasters that don't have the same "community" as natural disasters.

Full-Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest

Full-Rip 9.0: The Next Big Earthquake in the Pacific Northwest by Sandi Doughton

I'll admit that I didn't think much of this book when it was sitting around the house. The cover made it look like a poorly written self-published alarmist book. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a well-written book. The author is a journalist living in the Pacific Northwest. She has the journalistic flair for making a complex subject east to understand. I had started reading this paperback. I then found the e-book at the library. After many false starts, I found that using the Alexa app, I was able to get this Kindle book read to me. The voice was fairly clear with a decent pace, but there did not seem to be a way to get it to go faster.

The book is primarily a chronological unfolding of our understanding of earthquakes in the northwest. There were not many people keeping records in the area when early earthquakes occured. However, there are some oral histories and legends from the Native Americans in the regions. Some later earthquakes had some documentation that could teased out by early settlers. However, for most of the early earthquakes, most knowledge has been found by analyzing the land. Soil cores can identify anomalies that correlate with earthquakes. Tree rings can help to provide more precise dating. Carbon dating can help provide details from older quakes. Identifiers of larger quakes can also be correlated with detailed tsunami data that has been kept by Japan. Lidar data can also be used to attempt to find fault lines and other anomalies that may be difficult to identify. 

Earthquake prediction has been a total failure so far. Even trying to identify the susceptibility of different areas to earthquakes can be challenging. Japan has one of the most advanced level of earthquake preparedness, and even they were caught off guard. In the Northwest, many older brick buildings would likely crumble in large earthquake. The Space Needle had been over-engineered and may be fine. Many wood framed houses may do well, while "tilt up" warehouses will likely fail. Of greater concern will be infrastructure. Pipes and powerlines may fail. It could take a long time before infrastructure can be repaired. Even if buildings survive there may be internal damage and it could take months before the normal life is started again. It is important to be prepared to survive on your own for at least a few days before any help would be available.

A Children's Bible

A bunch of kids are on vacation with their parents. The parents are distracted with their "things" (like technology, sex, booze, etc.) This leaves the kids to engage on their own. A big storm goes through the area, making things interesting and helping with their adventure.

The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coasts

Coastal lands have been heavily developed in the last century. These areas are often filled with expensive homes (many of them second homes.) Alas, the areas are susceptible to storms and sea level rising. Many of the areas are essentially built of sand bars. Rather than being abandoned after flooding, these areas are often rebuilt with higher value property replacing the ruined less expensive housing.

The private developers have often outsources the risk in these areas to the government. Private industry had largely backed out of many of these flooded areas. However, the federal government has come in to help support flood insurance. Alas, this program has had huge losses and has supported rebuilding in flooded areas. Beyond this, FEMA has typically provided government assistance to any area in a big disaster. The federal government is subsidizing people to build in flood-prone areas. (Even fiscal conservatives are eager to get federal money when a storm hits their district.) New Jersey seems to be the best at extracting money. There are curious cases of the Corps of Engineers moving sand to the beach, only to have it blow away shortly after. 

What is the fix? There are billions and possibly trillions of dollars of real estate sitting on locations that are likely to be underwater in the next century. Maintaining that land will be extremely expensive. Eventually, they will not be able to be bailed out. Will we gradually move to higher ground, or just continue to rebuild in the same vulnerable locations as we have done?

When the Sky Breaks: Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and the Worst Weather in the World (Smithsonian)

Hurricanes can bring large scale devastation. The Pacific ones tend to be worse than the Atlantic ones. However, the biggest press coverage occurs when one hits a major city (such as New York City.) Tornadoes can also be very devastating. This book has a quick analysis of the powerful storms.

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

Disasters often bring out the best in common folk, in spite of leaders. People fondly remember how community rallied together after major disasters such as the San Francisco earthquake. Neighbors would help other people that they would previously not have associated with. There are many bouts of altruism. Those people close to the situation are able to quickly respond and provide needed aid long before "first responders" arrive.

Authorities are typically concerned with fears of crime, looting and law and order in times of disaster. Alas, the response can be even more harmful than the crimes sought to be prevented. With hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the "bad" was greatly exaggerated, leading to vigilantes running about. Many black people were killed, even when carrying their own belongings near their house. Other localities used police forces to keep evacuees out. Centralized control also got in the way of grass-roots efforts of neighbors helping each other.

People respond well to mutual aid. They work together to help each other out. They can respond quickly to needs. The disasters bring everyone out to this positive situation. People are not expecting handouts. They are just doing what they can to help each other. Being dependent on external handouts can be demoralizing. The external help is appreciated, but much better when help is integrated into the community rather than brought down from above with strings attached. In spite of post-apocalyptic tales of depravity, people have a great desire to help each other.