As a rule the closest thing we have to natural disasters in these parts are tornados. They're fearsome storms, as many of you know, but they don't usually cover much territory.

Well, yesterday we and a lot of others got hit with a long, wide line of storms featuring 80+ mph winds. If I know my hurricanes, that is one feature of a Category 1. I've never experienced a wind that heavy, and don't care to do so again. I live on a very small lot with half a dozen trees, and lost half of them. Some pole barns in the area flew apart. This entire state is under a state of emergency, and roughly half a million folks are without electricity.

What is it like to go through a storm with 120, 140 or 160+ mph winds? How does an ordinary dwelling stay intact? I hope I never have to find out.

Andy

Amen to that, brother.
Here in your neighbor-to-the-north-east our weather sounds even less severe than yours. Tornados around here are almost unheard of. When one does pop up every few years, it's usually very small and does little damage.
We don't really seem to get the extreme weather like months-long droughts, months-long floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.
There's a lot to hate about New York, but mostly the weather here is livable.
Maybe that's why they keep the taxes up good and high here. They charge for the great honor and privilege to live here in mostly temperate weather.

Our houses are built with the possibility of hurricanes. Most of the trees that will uproot are long gone from previous storms, unless they're small newbies at which point you just replant. Fences are built to last. If they fall, they were getting old anyway. Flooding is still bound to happen 'cause Houston was built on marsh land. I love a good hurricane. Ike didn't hurt me none, except my beer got warm.

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Hold on. SWAT's at my door.

snowman, I know of what you speak...caught your storm a few hours later.

We had amply warning; media outlets and the 'net widely broadcast info that it was coming. I battened down the hatches, secured lawn stuff, and headed to the house to watch. It arrived here circa 2100, and the lightning was simply amazing. It was more "balls" than "bolts." Peak wind gust on my outdoor station was JUST 37 mph but a 25 foot maple tree and a 20 foot cherry tree in my yard were simply swirling. Had never seen anything like it. Power went out almost immediately and the worst of the storm was gone within the hour. .81 inches of rain came with the blow. I went to bed; power came back at 0300. But there's a lot more...

Yesterday I went out for some errands and came upon some real damage. In a neighborhood a few miles west there were trees and power lines down everywhere. No traffic signals operational and scores of businesses were closed...and remain closed. That includes the regional shopping mall. Fortunately, no reports of injuries/fatalities in my area.

I live on a golf course and a bit later I went over to watch the end of the member/member tourney. (Am a bit injured and couldn't play.) The pro suggested I take a cart and ride down to the back nine. WOW! Big. old growth trees were down everywhere. Most of the damage was in a line from the west toward a hill that borders my backyard.

It is obvious there were winds MUCH higher than 37 mph within a few hundred yards of my house. I believe the hill diverted the worst winds "up and over" where they lost strength. Some believe a small tornado touched down; that investigation is underway. Given the damage, it is quite possible. Some trees were 80' tall and root balls were enormous. Needless to say, the back nine remains closed.

Having been in the middle (and underwater in a car) during Hurricane Camille and right in the path of a tornado in 2001 this was/is far less traumatic but I pray for those not as fortunate.

Be safe.

Science behind rare derecho storm that hit Friday - WTOP.com

Interesting, indeed.

Be safe.

my beer didn't even get warm, and my generator powered my ac, too.
still, Ike made a hell of a mess and tore up my fence.
nothing at all to love.

Attached Images

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Having been thru Camille and Katrina, plus a lot of others, I can assure you that there is no such thing as a good hurricane.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

I'm sure no expert since I've lived in West Texas most of my life but I spent 14 years in Houston and saw Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Ike. Ike gave my area lots of wind but little rain causing quite a bit of damage. Allison just sat on us and dumped 30 to 40 inches of rain, causing more damage and death than Ike.

Thanks BigD for the info on derecho, that's a new one for me that I never heard of before.
I worked in Homestead, FL to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew at the Air Force Base. I saw a F-16 jet that was left in a hangar built to withstand 200 mph winds, both were heavily damaged. Sometimes tornadoes are formed from hurricanes and do a lot more damagage than the hurricane itself.
The only good thing about a hurricane is that you usually get a a few days notice to prepare for the storm, you either hunker down or leave town.

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

Here in Biloxi when a storm is coming the "Hurricane Hunters" take their planes and leave before the storm hits Keesler AFB.

Hurricanes, like tornados are fickle I am always amazed at how many ramshackle camps and homes are still standing after the strong hurricane passes through.
Steve W

Here in LexVegas we didn't have a warning until the wind hit. No clouds or anything until it just darkened and blew through. Temps dropped from 102 to 79 in three minutes. It was through Lex in under five minutes and my impression was we only got the very southern edge, winds felt like 50ish on the side of the Wrangler.

having survived a tornado with 320+mph winds, losing everything we owned, and not having any warning to prepare, i'll take the hurricane.

imagine seeing your home in pieces, no clothing anywhere in site, checkbook gone, credit/debit cards missing, stash of cash possibly miles away, no vehicles, to go anywhere. at least with the hurricane there is enough warning and the possibility of some sort of shelter surviving.

Sir,

I can certainly see how you feel(Oklahoma City -1999 or so?). You're fortunate to still be with us. I salute you for your ability to survive and go on.

Tornados are obviously terrible, frightening events for folks who are hit. My only point was that their paths are narrow in comparison to hurricanes, which may be scores of miles wide and affect many more people. Wind velocities and therefore destructive force may be the same with both kinds of storms.

Thank you for your sobering reply, sir.
Andy

Have a hurricane and increase the property value ???

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

Awww, it's just a little wind, and some water. It'll blow over. (I ain't living down there!)

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Give me the tornados. A little research can show where tornados normally run through an area and my little area has only had one come close (less than a mile) in my lifetime. Yes tornados are vicious and cause a lot of damage and deaths, but the possibility of one getting a specific person/house is far less than with the hurricanes. I guess most folks can understand and accept the weather they grow up in. I do.
Larry

As I type this, my swimsuit is still damp from a long swim in the warm gulf waters. I'll live with the storms to enjoy some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Just the price you pay to live in paradise!

I'll take our earthquakes, thanks. With an earthquake yer stuff generally stays where ya left it. Hurricanes & tornados, not so much...

Pray to God you never get hit with a force 5 tornado. The town of Tupelo, Mississippi, got hit with one in 1936. It cut a half-mile swath out of the middle of the town and stayed on the ground for about 3 miles. Nothing was left standing in it's wake except some of the high school. Over 300 people lost their lives and about another 285 were injured.
If they kept their records differently it would have been the worst tornado to hit the U.S. You see, the same storm lifted up and hit Gainesville, Georgia, the next day and did about the same damage again. The force 5 figure was calculated years later, as no such register existed in 1936. I lost my Great Grandmother in that one when the chimney fell on her. My Grandfather's house was in the middle of the tornado's path. Thank goodness it all happened 4 years before I was born!

... I've lived on the west-central coast of Florida for over fifty years and have never seen the actions or results of a severe hurricane.
{Knock On Wood}

seagill,

As our screen names indicate, we have two very different ideas of "paradise". I do enjoy your orange juice a great deal, however.

Andy

It's been since '04 when I was dead center (no pun intended) for Charlie. It is right terrifying/exciting. I watched several entire outbuildings fly past the house I was living in, quite the sight. 20 miles east or west had no damage at all. Outside of the inconveniences, I lost a dozen shingles as I had just replaced the roof. A block away a house was leveled. Was like a giant 20 mile wide buzzsaw cut a path from Fort Myers to Daytona beach. Hope to avoid a repeat of that for this lifetime. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

The hurricanes are a pain, but if it weren't for hurricanes and ferocious mosquitoes, we'd be up over our hips in Yankees.

I slept through Ike. I get my best sleep during a storm, weird huh. My wife was up all night worrying.

The 4 days without electricity was the worst part for me. Other people suffered horrible damage though.

When I move, it will be about 100 miles inland.

No matter what region of the U.S. one may live there is usually the threat of some type natural disaster , and in some areas, more than one. If you don't have hurricanes it's tornadoes, wildfires, eathquakes, blizzards, eruptions, flash floods or a combination of all of the above. Most of us have a special love of the area we live in and are willing to take the calculated risk of experiencing nature's rath and stay there anyway figuring the benefits outweigh the risks. I have been through Camille, Frederick, that shrew, Katrina, and many other lesser hurricanes and tropical storms in the Biloxi /Gulfport area, having had to be on duty and work through several of them, but have never considered moving away as this is home and my love of the beauty and culture we enjoy far surpasses the fear of anything nature may bring. I am sure that those who live in other areas feel the same way about their home. As has been mentioned, we usually have several days of warning to prepare and decide the best way to deal with it. If we decide to stay, or if we must stay because of responsibilities to our neighbors, we just do it and afterward we just get busy and do what we must to recover just as many others do when disasters hit their home area.

Right now our thoughts and prayers are for those suffering through the terrible wildfires in the west and our neighbors in the northeast battling through deadly heat and lack of the electic power that we so often take for granted. Let us all pray that their burdens be swiftly lifted.

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S&W Armorer
Lost in the 50s

God hates trailer courts. I dont know a part of the country that doesnt have some types of repeat disasters. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, earthquakes, floods or here, fires. What I have always found remarkable is where people build or rebuild where many floods have been or on the edge of cliffs over the ocean where many before have regularly lost their homes due to heavy rains and flood. Also many build in the woods with no significance firebreaks. But then again, I have heard several rich people that have reasoned so what? I have insurance. California is big on all that. Once I seen a flood wipe out a huge area near santa clarita and piru to where it looked like the mississipi river. Soon they were building in the same spots! It`s like they think well that was bad, but now it cant happen again. And then when it does happen again are we to feel sorry for them?