Disaster myths are often worse than reality, claims to pages of The Times journalist and writer Amanda Ripley, who wrote for many years about a variety of emergencies and interviewed survivors. In her article, she refutes the 10 most common myths about disasters and natural disasters. 
Photos from open sources Contrary to popular belief, even serious aircraft accidents (including fires) are not necessary fatal: 56% of passengers in such disasters from 1983 to 2000, survived. “The main thing is to leave the plane faster”, – the author writes, emphasizing that the best way to play safe is Read the safety booklets in advance, as In a state of fright, the brain processes new information very poorly. The unbridled panic portrayed in disaster films in really big rarity: usually people become meek and submissive, the author writes. “It is generated by natural selection: those who in the face of danger fall into hysteria, rarely remain alive ”, – notes Ripley. Disasters often affect the poor – including poor countries, Ripley stresses. Two earthquakes – in California in 1994 and in Pakistan in 2005, were the same in strength and destruction radius, but in the United States only 63 people died, and in Pakistan – about 100 thousand, according to the publication. Natural disasters rarely unexpected: for example, Hurricane Katrina has been for many years predicted by scientists, journalists and emergency services in all details. “The trouble is that we built up the coast too tightly, destroying natural buffers such as mangroves, ”the author explains. In an emergency, prudence is usually more important than physical strength, notes the author. Among the survivors of the 2004 tsunami, there were more men, as many women did not know how to swim. However in the USA men are more likely to die in floods and lightning strikes, as often procrastinate. In case of fire, you should only rely on yourself, neighbors or colleagues, as firefighters cannot appear on location instantly, notes Ripley. Training alarms are not empty waste of time: “when the room is full of smoke, you have to make your way to touch, and this is very dangerous: in a modern building, smoke is very fast becomes poisonous, ”Ripley writes, advising working out to Automatism is the way to the nearest exit. Stories of looting and rape in major disasters is greatly exaggerated, believes the author. If this happens, then in dysfunctional areas. The primitive “fight-or-run” instinct, which supposedly turns on in emergency situations, Ripley does not believe. “IN reality people very often do not escape from the deadly threats, and they freeze, as if falling into a lethargic dream, ”writes she, referring, for example, to the disaster of the ferry “Estonia” in 1994 year. Perhaps this is a protective mechanism: a person or the animal pretends to be dead to escape from a predator. Now flight attendants are taught to yell wildly: “Get out of the plane!” and, as practice shows, it takes passengers out of a stupor, notes author. Heroes, like all normal people, feel fear, but they inaction is worse than action, the author notes. For instance, American Roger Olien, who rushed into the river in winter – to save people from the crashed plane, just did not want to feel a coward.
Pakistan Fires US Airplanes
