hurricane destruction
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hurricane destruction
I live in a 40 year old house if IVAN was to make a direct hit as a cat 5 would I loose my house!?
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- mf_dolphin
- Category 5

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quickychick
It's probably a good bet that a *direct* cat 5 hit would take out 90% of houses regardless of age.
It depends on a number of things. What is the house constructed of? If it's 40 years old, it probably wasn't made according to strict (if any) hurricane codes...especially if you're not in an area where they're aggressive about them. Depends on if you have trees that the storm would throw on it. Depends on if you secure the windows or not. Depends on if your neighbors de-coconut their coconut trees (guessing there aren't many in SC though).
In short: depends. But most likely in that specific scenario it'd be gone.
-qc
It depends on a number of things. What is the house constructed of? If it's 40 years old, it probably wasn't made according to strict (if any) hurricane codes...especially if you're not in an area where they're aggressive about them. Depends on if you have trees that the storm would throw on it. Depends on if you secure the windows or not. Depends on if your neighbors de-coconut their coconut trees (guessing there aren't many in SC though).
In short: depends. But most likely in that specific scenario it'd be gone.
-qc
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bigmike
Bud depends how far inland you are. If you're by the coast well..... but if you're more than 50 miles inland you've got a pretty good chance at surviving as long as you take decent precautions. Just remember the farther inland you go the less speedier the winds. I'm not saying hurricane force winds are anything to snear at but most probably you're not gonna get substained 140mph hour winds.
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I don't remember the whole city of Biloxi being demolished after Camile. I thought it was those that stayed on the beach front. Are you sure that all houses will fall with a Cat 5. I live in a brick house in Mobile built well in 1979. My two very elderly parents will be staying with me if the storm comes here. I can't get my dad in the car to leave town-- he's too big and in a wheel chair. Are you saying if a Cat. 5 comes here my house will fall for sure. I am very serious about this question because I will have to find a way to leave if things are that dangerous.
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Unfortunately, there are many variables. What is your elevation? How far are you from the bay and creeks and estuaries? Are there large trees near you which could be uprooted? Are your neighbors houses sturdy. If they're not, the parts could act like missles and destroy an otherwise safe house. What is the soil like where you live? Rock is better than clay or gumbo.
If I recall right, very little of Mobile would be in an area of relative safety.
Even more importantly, is the ground saturated with water and does the eye pass just to your East (good) or just to your West (VERY BAD)
I sympathise with your plight since it is very similar to my own. (My mother is bedfast and very large). I myself am in only slightly better shape.
I live 40 miles from the gulf and thought I was safe in up to a Cat 4 from surge. I discovered we could be flooded by a Cat 3. Meanwhile, a Cat 2 storm suddenly became a Cat 4 and we were under evacuation orders. I was NOT able to find any way to evacuate. I was fortunate that it rapidly diminished in the last 150 miles and it hit to our east.
If you can, call your Emergency manager (city and/or county) and ask if there is something they can do for you. Most nursing homes have evacuation plans and they may be able to give you some assistance.
If I recall right, very little of Mobile would be in an area of relative safety.
Even more importantly, is the ground saturated with water and does the eye pass just to your East (good) or just to your West (VERY BAD)
I sympathise with your plight since it is very similar to my own. (My mother is bedfast and very large). I myself am in only slightly better shape.
I live 40 miles from the gulf and thought I was safe in up to a Cat 4 from surge. I discovered we could be flooded by a Cat 3. Meanwhile, a Cat 2 storm suddenly became a Cat 4 and we were under evacuation orders. I was NOT able to find any way to evacuate. I was fortunate that it rapidly diminished in the last 150 miles and it hit to our east.
If you can, call your Emergency manager (city and/or county) and ask if there is something they can do for you. Most nursing homes have evacuation plans and they may be able to give you some assistance.
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I've lived in Biloxi all my life, including during Camille, and no - not all houses were destroyed. The overwhelming impact was from surge, and wind-driven waves on top of the surge (22 feet plus!!). We stayed in our frame house, as did most in our neighborhood. Not a single house was "destroyed". And that scenario was about the same all across the coast. However, those that were below the 20ft mark were pretty much gone - SURGE is the culprit!!.
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inotherwords
- Category 2

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Your thoughts on how something like the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine would hold up?
>For this new fort the engineers chose to use a local stone called "coquina" (CO-key-NA). The name means "little shells" and that is exactly what the stone is made of-- little shellfish that died long ago, and their shells have now become bonded together to form the stone, a type of limestone. The coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site.
In a work area that was located where the Castillo parking lot is today, the stone masons sent here by the Crown from Havana labored to produce the blocks for the construction. The mortar to bond the blocks to each other was made on the construction site by baking oyster shells in kilns until they fell apart to a fine white powder called lime. The lime was then mixed with sand and fresh water to produce the mortar that still holds the Castillo together today. After 23 years of work, the Castillo was declared completed in 1695.
The Castillo had its first test when British forces under Governor James Moore of Charles Town (Charleston), Carolina laid siege to the city in early November, 1702. At the start of the siege the people of St. Augustine crowded into the Castillo to take shelter, and the over 1200 civilians and 300 soldiers of the city would remain within the walls for almost two months.
The British cannon had little effect upon the coquina walls which merely absorbed the shock of the hits with little damage.<
http://www.nps.gov/casa/home/history.htm
[img][/img]
>For this new fort the engineers chose to use a local stone called "coquina" (CO-key-NA). The name means "little shells" and that is exactly what the stone is made of-- little shellfish that died long ago, and their shells have now become bonded together to form the stone, a type of limestone. The coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site.
In a work area that was located where the Castillo parking lot is today, the stone masons sent here by the Crown from Havana labored to produce the blocks for the construction. The mortar to bond the blocks to each other was made on the construction site by baking oyster shells in kilns until they fell apart to a fine white powder called lime. The lime was then mixed with sand and fresh water to produce the mortar that still holds the Castillo together today. After 23 years of work, the Castillo was declared completed in 1695.
The Castillo had its first test when British forces under Governor James Moore of Charles Town (Charleston), Carolina laid siege to the city in early November, 1702. At the start of the siege the people of St. Augustine crowded into the Castillo to take shelter, and the over 1200 civilians and 300 soldiers of the city would remain within the walls for almost two months.
The British cannon had little effect upon the coquina walls which merely absorbed the shock of the hits with little damage.<
http://www.nps.gov/casa/home/history.htm
[img][/img]
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Ixolib wrote:I've lived in Biloxi all my life, including during Camille, and no - not all houses were destroyed. The overwhelming impact was from surge, and wind-driven waves on top of the surge (22 feet plus!!). We stayed in our frame house, as did most in our neighborhood. Not a single house was "destroyed". And that scenario was about the same all across the coast. However, those that were below the 20ft mark were pretty much gone - SURGE is the culprit!!.
Closer to the Pass (Pass Christian) the damage was worse.
Oddly enough, the saving grace for a large part of the MS coast in Camille was the railroad - it acted as a levee, protecting a lot of areas.
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Frantastic
- Tropical Low

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- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 9:59 am
- Location: Wilson, NC
check out what hazel (cat 4) did to NC, pics and video
http://www.wral.com/hurricanes/3698406/detail.html
http://www.wral.com/hurricanes/3698406/detail.html
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