With natural disasters tearing through other countries in the world, this raises a question that most of the citizens in Germantown, if not the whole city, have either scoffed at or found themselves baffled by: what if a natural disaster hit the city of Philadelphia?
The responses that many people gave all had a unanimous sense of unpreparedness. Some laughed, others shrugged their shoulders as if the question had no validity or as if they simply could not imagine a scenario encompassing the occurrence of a natural disaster. Based on the small, random sample of people that we asked, it is clear that few, if any of the people in the neighborhood are prepared for this to occur.
It is highly unlikely that the city will suffer any adverse effects to an earthquake, as there has not been an earthquake focused on any region within hundreds of miles of the city. In addition, there are no faults running through Philadelphia. This decreases the likelihood of anything outside of an aftershock being felt within the community.
Hurricanes have been known to affect the city, but the severe effects of hurricanes tend to die down by the time it reaches Pennsylvania, leaving nothing more than strong-winded rainstorms. Still, the climate continues to be affected and hurricanes are becoming more frequent and more violent, leaving more precedents to be set.
But, has the lack of activity in the region left us complacent and unprepared? Hopefully, this will be an issue that gets resolved some time in the near future.
Raymond Andrews and Katie Annesley, Team 12, Germantown.
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