Oklahoma devastated again

Tornadoes ripping through the city.

mile wide tornado has a direct hit on an elemantary school

 

We could do with that nice weather over here because its been bleeding shocking latley............tornado........I'd put mi shorts on if the weather girl said we are likely to have a tornado
Those foookers in Oklahoma need to spend a fotnit in Penistone...........they would soon be on the next plane

 

try telling the 75 families whoes kids have been buried.

muppet

10 dead so far rescue workers continue the search for children and missing persons

 

It's always tragic and incredibly sad when such things happen. Nature has ways of letting us know just how little we are in the world. Settlers to the dust bowl states have lived with this for over 150 years and it will never change. Some parts of the continent were never meant to be settled, you could say that about large parts of southern California. Nebraska and Kansas were always going to be affected too, people are just as vulnerable to nature now as the earliest homesteaders. I have a friend in Lubbock, Texas and she says they are open to tornados there.

 

Hope you are feeling remorseful and embarrassed now. 90+ people killed of whom at least 20 are children. What a stupid "joke" to make.

 

Awful tragedy

Heart breaking scenes on the news.

 

Confirmed berk.

 

Time lapse..........ABC News last night about more tornados being reported this year..............my initial post..............then reports about the tornados this morning

 

Absolutely terrible news and tragic that so many children were killed. These whirlwinds / tornadoes in particular are an awesome but deadly reminder of the damage that can be done by the power of nature. RIP to those who were killed.

 

Confirmed berk.

 

Good old Nudge. Finger. Pulse. As per.

 

What I find amazing is that "Oklahoma! - where the wind comes whistling down the plains" as the song from the musical puts it is one of the main states for high winds and yet people living in a superpower country are still ( the pictures showing scenes of devastation are there for all to see) living in clapboard houses that look very flimsy and certainly not storm-proof. The Suburb pictured that has been flattened looks like it comprised 100% these type of wooden structures. I would have thought that, whilst many people haven't the resources to replace them with bricks and mortar and therefore little choice, the authorities could at least provide early warning systems and public storm proof shelters to at least prevent loss of life on the scale we have seen particularly in schools and other public buildings.

 

Probably best if I didn't post owt else on this thread due to some, although unbeknown to me at the time, really bad timing on my part
But just like to comment on house construction in North America
When you see huge houses in films and TV programmes in North America the general public over here think that they are built in the same manner as what our houses over here are built of...........there not..........well not in my experience they arnt
I've seen massive houses built in North America inside just a few days.
It ususally starts with a big hole being excavated for the basement; because many people actually live in the basement area, the ground floor used only for guests to the house. This is followed by a wooden frame followed by wooden boards and then finished off with nailed on material to make it look like its been made of more substantial material such as brick or stone. The inner walls are just stud boarded. Even the roof tiles are made of some sort of material that they just nail to the wooden frame. Basically their houses are just big wooden sheds.
So its no surprise when a tornado rips through the neighbourhood and there isnt a house standing.

 

Much of what you say there is true Nudge but people don't mainly livein the basement. They use for storage and also for laundry room.Its very historical given the amount of timber they have. I know a guy lives in Nebraska and they do have early warning systems and storm bunkers. In fact the basements are useful for these events

 

maybe redarmy990 may be able to agree with me on this, i live in a house about 10 years old, tbh the regulations recently in north america make the buildings equally as good and stable as the ones in the UK.
My wife tells me the majority of houses in the states have basements with lockdown facilities to shelter from incidents like these. And also the majority of areas have storm bunkers etc

 

I'm surprised that this school didn't appear to have any kind of underground shelter and that they were sheltering in a hallway. Given the severity of this event perhaps they should have a rethink as to how they build public buildings in the area.

 

The reason that most North American houses are built via wooden construction is because of the weather and earthquake problems.

Wooden construction is best especially in tornado ally, just think of the devastation and destruction if these homes were brick construction. there would likely have been the double amount of deaths.
Actually CNN has just reported the deaths are down to 24 and not the 51 stated a while ago. 7 of which are children.

 

I live in a 1st floor condo but we dont get the severe storms and tornadoes as much as parts of USA.

Wooden construction is actually stronger than brick and mortar,and also a better insulater, coler in summer and warmer in winter.
and also about twice as cheap to build too.

whilst basements were built for the sole purpose years and years ago as a storm shelter,most people have them as an extension of there living space now.

With the heat we have during the summer here in DC, onwards and upwards of 105f the basement is also the coolest place to be.

Last summer when i arrived here, i arrived the day after a devastating wind storm the Dericho,we had no power for 10 days.So no A/C.

My wife and i stayed at her parents in there basement, lovely and cool.

 

Not according to the three little pigs. Got any evidence to back that up? I'd also question your claim that they provide better insulation. Can you back that up as well?

As far as protection from tornadoes goes, I'd suggest brick houses provide much more.

Wood and dry wall houses are much cheaper and less prone to earthquake damage, but apart from that I don't agree with anything you've said.

Happy to be corrected though if you can provide the links.

 

im a construction carpenter my friend so i know a thing or too.