new thread
When we see disaster pictures on the news, we tend to think they affect people we don't know. This morning at 5 a.m. my cousin's house was leveled by a tornado. She was beat up pretty bad but it seems she will come through okay. Six people in her town were killed. Her dad (my uncle) was a doctor heavily involved in building the town's hospital, and it was two doors down from her house. The tornado also took out one wall of the hospital.
Bill
Hi Bill,
I know what you mean as fairly often you hear about some sort of misfortune somewhere in the world but being it doesn't directly affect you it doesn't have the same impact.I recall after 9/11 I didn't think I knew of anyone directly affected by that event but later learned differently.Wasn't a family member but was of a friend of a friend of mine.I'm glad to hear your cousin survived that event but I can't imagine the emotional after affect from that.Goes to show life is very fragile.
Mâk
-------------------------
This is terrible. I hope she will heal completely.
The only way to build a tornado proof structure would be to make it out of welded or riveted 1/2" thick steel plate. (Imagine a steel ship hull on dry land.) With polycarbonate windows 3/4" thick, it would stand up to an F5. Only the outer walls, floor and roof would have to made of welded or riveted steel plate. The foundation should go at least 30 feet deep into the ground to prevent tornadic lifting. The inner walls could be the same as normal. The outer steel shell of a 2000 square foot house built this way would weigh about 55 tons.
Scott
Hello Bill: I hope all will be well in those tornado struck communities, hope your family members will be ok.
Tom
That must be incredibly traumatic - not only the physical trauma to your cousin but also the loss of her home. Best wishes to her and her family.
Damon
------------------------------------------
Here in the UK it's hard to imagine natural destruction on this scale. Our thoughts are with you and you family.
I knew she was all right when I saw her interviewed tonight on CNN. She would have never allowed herself to appear on national television if she didn't look good!
Her lip was a bit bruised, and she told the tale how she heard sirens and ran into a pantry for shelter, putting on a bathrobe. Suddenly she was flying in the air and then landed on top of all the rubble that had been her house and her stuff. She was then in the rain. Just then her cell phone rang - it happened to be in the pocket of the bathrobe - and it was a friend asking if she was okay. She said, "No!" The friend called 911 and she was soon rescued. They could not get an ambulance so she was put in the bed of a pick up truck and taken to the hospital which was less than a block away.
Bill
--------------------------
It ia a miracle that she survived this. Thank God, she did. From the discription of becoming airborne and landing on top of the remains of her house, along with the fact she only suffered minor injuries is truely amazing.
Again, I posted esrlier, if I lived in a tornado zone, I would have a house made of half inch thick riveted steel plate. This would survive an F5 easily.
Scott
Yeah, and if it didn't and you ended up under it, you would emerge half an inch thick. [wink]
The picture, taken yesterday, is of my cousin's house.
Bill
Some years ago we had one come through here in Maryland, and one family we knew had their house blown away except for the slab foundation. They were in it at the time, and the whole family hid under a mattress together, which was all that was left afterwards. Their son grabbed his Gameboy, which was good, because all their other posessions were blown away. His father's hair turned white overnight. Physically at least, none of them were harmed.
------------------------------
The destruction is surreal. It looks like a nuclear bomb went off nearby. I hope that she was insured. Insurance won't replace heirlooms, but it will replace your house.
Scott
We have learned her checkbook was found in a school parking lot in Evansville, Indiana, which is over 60 miles away.
Bill