Tornado Crisis 2011

[Sloan]

I've got some pics of the aftermath of that tornado shit that hit the other night. Did mega damage in Alabama, and nearby Ringgold, Ga got slammed as well. Amazingly enough I came out ok, some others here were not so lucky.

Photo album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.218946104783150.69055.100000032853164

 

[Ola Englund]

holy shit dude, you alright?

 

[FIXXXER]

fucked up shit

 

[BrettT]

Mother nature is taking huge dumps everywhere lately, it seems.

Glad you're okay, man.

 

[Sloan]

Yeah so far everybody I know personally didn't get zapped. Most of these pictures are from the other side of town, about a 5-10min drive. I think this is the worst we've gotten anything like this though.

 

[BrettT]

One of my bandmates is from Birmingham, AL and still has lots of family there...luckily all his peeps are okay.

We're battling crazy wildfires here in Texas due to extremely dry and windy conditions. I've seen two fires in the last two days on the sides of the roads near my house.

 

[Sloan]

One of my bandmates is from Birmingham, AL and still has lots of family there...luckily all his peeps are okay.

We're battling crazy wildfires here in Texas due to extremely dry and windy conditions. I've seen two fires in the last two days on the sides of the roads near my house.

Damn, from what I've seen of Birmingham, that place looks totally destroyed. There is a lot of aerial footage on youtube.

Good luck with the wildfire stuff, that's gotta suck.

 

[StefTD]

glad that you're alright.

not to sound like a dumbass, but I think there would be way less damages if the build quality of the houses
would be better. It always looks like most of the houses are build out of wood for the most parts. Worked
in a company that builds houses here and my father works there as a Master of Engineering and he's shocked
when he sees the way many houses are built in the USA. All the houses they build are almost completely out
of reinforced concrete and so on, and they're not allowed to built them another way, because of eventual
earthquakes or tornados. For example, a normal house around here has to able to hold an earthquake heavier
than the heaviest earthquake that was ever measured in Germany.

I just don't get it why you would build a house out of wood in an area that gets hit by tornados alot.

Like I said before, don't want to sound arrogant or anything like that, I am asking because I am really interested
in it.

 

[grywolf627]

^^You don't sound arrogant. I was born and raised here...and after traveling and seeing how houses are built in many other countries...I've wondered the same thing. It's like we build our houses out of match sticks and tooth picks!

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

dude, i'm sorry. if i had to see my neighborhood like that i think i would be disturbed for the rest of my life

 

[midget donkeys]

To Steftd:
It's because it is cheap. That is why there are so many jokes about tornado's hitting trailer parks. The poorest people have the shoddiest quality homes, which then get damaged the most from extreme weather.

 

[Uros]

Yeah, I was always wandering that very same question, ever since I saw them in the movies. I though that's some kind of country's policy or something.

 

[Sloan]

To Steftd:
It's because it is cheap. That is why there are so many jokes about tornado's hitting trailer parks. The poorest people have the shoddiest quality homes, which then get damaged the most from extreme weather.

Yeah, they build houses in like two days or something now. It's insane how quick stuff is put together.

Concrete or block foundation, 2x4's and plywood, and then all the cosmetic stuff like vinyl siding.

 

[LeSedna]

Yeah, they build houses in like two days or something now. It's insane how quick stuff is put together.

Concrete or block foundation, 2x4's and plywood, and then all the cosmetic stuff like vinyl siding.

No surprise then, but hey, if that's the only thing some people can afford, I can only understand...

By the way yeah here these sort of houses don't exist, only maybe in the mountains, and I'm not so sure, they all look so heavy even made of wood. I don't even know if it's possible to build a house now without being subject to some sort of norms. I'm curious actually, I don't even know.

 

[grywolf627]

No surprise then, but hey, if that's the only thing some people can afford, I can only understand...

By the way yeah here these sort of houses don't exist, only maybe in the mountains, and I'm not so sure, they all look so heavy even made of wood. I don't even know if it's possible to build a house now without being subject to some sort of norms. I'm curious actually, I don't even know.

Many of you don't seem to understand...this isn't how "poor people's" house are made...this is how houses are made here...period. Like Sloan said: concrete foundation, 2x4 studs, plywood, sheetrock walls. Not just small, little houses...but even your huge, expensive houses. And I will never understand this. Especially since I live on the gulf coast (hurricane area).

 

[midget donkeys]

That is true greywolf. Many of the new large expensive houses look very poorly made to me. I don't think they will stand the test of time. It seams to be the way many new houses are.

My parents house on the other hand is very old (by a US time frame) mid 1800's if I recall from the deed. It is far beefier than your average new home.

One of my sisters lives in Florida and built a house there. It sits on large concrete pillars driven into the ground a full story up. That way during hurricanes it is very stable and above the level of flooding water. I am sure her neighbors thought she was crazy when she had it made, but it has served her well.

 

[SimonSez]

I worked on an architecture program in school for a while and they showed us new building methods with 2x4 framing (balloon framing) and just by using construction adhesive along with screws can make a house much more resilient to strong winds. The material cost isn't much higher but it would probably take an extra two days to frame the house and contractors seem to love cutting corners so that's a big no-no.

I sat in my vacation house in Wisconsin through an F2 tornado two years ago. I keep a weather radio on over there whenever the skies turn dark and it just so happened that a weather alert was issued that a tornado would hit within the next 10 minutes. The tornado lasted maybe 5 seconds over my house and it didn't do any damage to it but there were a lot of downed power lines and broken/fallen trees. The house is surrounded by 50 foot pine trees and I made sure to cut any close ones so if any of them fall they will not hit the house.

 

[Vinny]

One of my bandmates is from Birmingham, AL and still has lots of family there...luckily all his peeps are okay.

We're battling crazy wildfires here in Texas due to extremely dry and windy conditions. I've seen two fires in the last two days on the sides of the roads near my house.

My Uncle actually got some sick pics of the actual tornado. Luckily it wasn't near his home (he was on the road when it happened).

And yea, The wildfires here in Texas suck right now. One of my friend's home is actually right in the middle of two wildfires that are on either side of his home (He lives in Junction I think). Some crazy stuff.

 

[kaomao]

houses must built with bricks not plywood
I'm sorry to all the people having their houses destroyed but that's what happens if you build them like that.

 

[GeertSamuel]

Whatevery construction you may have, if nature wants to destroy it, it will. Forces of nature are so strong that it's impossible to build proper houses that are resistant to EVERYTHING.

This is very sad, glad you are well, but it's seriously unbelievable that people survived the wrackage seen on your pictures.