Moore Tornado, NOW, live chaser footage

Iraklis F.C. said:
Oh man thats a bad *** tornado right there !!!! :eek:



But one thing i dont understand, why arent they build reinforced concrete houses? they get these tornadoes every year so why dont they build something that can withstand a lot better these forces?
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It isn't cost effective. What is cost effective is building a regular house, and having an emergency tornado shelter.

EDIT: Have you ever seen a tornado program where they show a length of 2x4 going straight through brick work? That is what you have to deal with.
 
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I think I read about how theirs no real way to know IF a thick concrete wall would be stronger, as essentially everything is being sucked from the ground, not pushed.
The reason then is you dont want huge blocks of concrete flying about the place or falling from the sky.

Terrible news, hearing about how the kids actually drowned is messing me up.
 
thedoc46 said:
America is a HUGE and very spread out place. Chances are you're not going to get hit. Occasionally you do. Things are built to code in FL to withstand upto a Cat3 hurricane. The newer the home, the better the code.. But nothing, is going to stop an EF4 or EF5 tornado, nor will it stop a storm surge. You're looking at concrete with steel girder hospitals being completely ripped to shreds in those pics. There's only so much you can do.
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assuming i know what does concrete steel girder structure means, its not what i am talking about. I am talking about structures built like this http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Béton_armé .

BTW i am looking at buildings who appear to me like brick houses and steel girder structures, imho reinforced concrete could deal a lot betterwith these forces and i say this because the house i live in can withstand an earthquake of 8 Richter scale which is a tremendous-no joke release of power.
 
thedoc46 said:
Yes, I live in the USA and often travel to the midwest. Actually I was in Georgia last week, and was thinking, hopefully i don't get hit by a tornado. Then i go to California, and think, I hope this hotel doesn't end up on my lap overnight. I personally live on the coast in Florida, and between June 1st to Nov 31st I have to worry about a hurricane coming ashore and taking EVERYTHING away. It'll eventually happen, but hopefully not in my lifetime. Which is what these people that live in Oklahoma & San Fran say to themselves, yes its going to happen, but hopefully not in my lifetime.
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I never felt like that in fact we had hurricane parties on the beach :)


Iraklis F.C. said:
assuming i know what does concrete steel girder structure means, its not what i am talking about. I am talking about structures built like this http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Béton_armé .

BTW i am looking at buildings who appear to me like brick houses and steel girder structures, imho reinforced concrete could deal a lot betterwith these forces and i say this because the house i live in can withstand an earthquake of 8 Richter scale which is a tremendous-no joke release of power.
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With a tornado that size your house would last seconds with car\trucks ect being thrown at it at 200mph+
 
deuse said:
With a tornado that size your house would last seconds with car\trucks ect being thrown at it at 200mph+
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The goal is to save the occupants not the house, my point is that beton armee buildings are less likely to disappear in a tornado thus giving the occupants more chances to survive in a situation like this.

My house is built to cope with the immense forces of a 8R earthquake so it can at least be standing still and allow me to escape unharmed.

btw http://www.steadfastsystems.co.nz/benefits_mn.html
 
deuse said:
I never felt like that in fact we had hurricane parties on the beach :)
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I very much doubt you'd be partying on the beach with anything above a CAT2 Hurricane. Cat1's I wouldn't even bother boarding up the house for. Cat2, hmmm I'd think about it. Cat3, Board up and get out the way of danger. Cat4 or 5, i'd absolutely definitely be leaving, taking my family to safety, locking up taking my valued possessions, with the expectation, that i may not have a home when i return.

We're at risk of a tropical storm every other yr. My previous home went thru a CAT3 and needed a new roof back in 2005. I hope that I never experience a CAT4 or CAT5. The historical probability of a CAT3 is every 40 yrs. A cat 4 or 5 every 70 or so yrs, in the town i live. As i said above, one will eventually come. Just make sure you've got insurance and pray for the best.
 
physichull said:
It makes you think doesn't it.

EVERY YEAR these people who live in the mid-west states run the gauntlet of the spring storms. It would constantly weigh on my mind every April/May.
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I live in the upper mid-west. Thankfully, we don't get as many tornadoes as the "Tornado Alley" states. The last F5 here was 1996 I believe. The last fatality was 2005 during an F3 - just after I arrived here and a few miles down the road. I remember just before we headed down to the basement I looked up at the sky and saw all these different layers of clouds all spinning up and thinking "that can't be good" :eek:

When I got home last night, the first thing I did was go over our tornado drill with the missus. Seeing the pictures of them pulling kids out of the debris was heartbreaking, and really bought it home to me. Fortunately, we live in a condo with underground parking - which is basically a giant concrete bunker underground.
 
Curio said:
I live in the upper mid-west. Thankfully, we don't get as many tornadoes as the "Tornado Alley" states. The last F5 here was 1996 I believe. The last fatality was 2005 during an F3 - just after I arrived here and a few miles down the road. I remember just before we headed down to the basement I looked up at the sky and saw all these different layers of clouds all spinning up and thinking "that can't be good" :eek:
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We live in the midwest also. We were just a few miles away at the time when the last massive hurricane came through Henryville. The skies do turn a disturbingly dark and evil color!
We also had an earthquake about 4yrs ago? Middle of a the night, sounded like our house was gonna be hit by a freight train, so strange and scary at the time!

You can plan and prepare for these things, but sometimes there is just not enough time. :(
 
Iraklis F.C. said:
The goal is to save the occupants not the house, my point is that beton armee buildings are less likely to disappear in a tornado thus giving the occupants more chances to survive in a situation like this.

My house is built to cope with the immense forces of a 8R earthquake so it can at least be standing still and allow me to escape unharmed.

btw http://www.steadfastsystems.co.nz/benefits_mn.html
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The only true way is to hide under ground. They build houses in FL with a reinforced concrete base with steel rods
sticking up, they lay breeze blocks so the steel rods go through the holes
then fill it with concrete. And they still come apart.

thedoc46 said:
I very much doubt you'd be partying on the beach with anything above a CAT2 Hurricane. Cat1's I wouldn't even bother boarding up the house for. Cat2, hmmm I'd think about it. Cat3, Board up and get out the way of danger. Cat4 or 5, i'd absolutely definitely be leaving, taking my family to safety, locking up taking my valued possessions, with the expectation, that i may not have a home when i return.
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Charley was the last hurricane and it went right over my house no big deal. The worse one I lived through was the No name storm it touched down in my county(Pasco).
 
FEMA has the specs for storm shelters you can build your self, or the house builder should have built when making the house. The house would be destroyed but the shelter room (which can double as a closet) would be left. I think it is supposed to be made of either breeze blocks filled with rebar and poured concrete, or combined layers of 1/4 plywood and 18 guage steel sheets. It's bolted to the concrete slab of the house. You can also get prefab shelters that get buried under your garage floor or in your garden for $2-5000.

I think after this one there will be calls to make it part of the building code for new houses, and maybe mandatory retrofitting.
 
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