"Mike Hide" wrote in message
news:fls6d.276158$mD.146263@attbi_s02...
I think most of the structures built to recent standards did pretty well.
seems the UK did not fare that well in the recent flooding incident.
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Flooding is getting to be a real problem here. It seems to be a
combination of bad planning (building on flood plains) and more extreme
weather. It seems this is likely to continue to get worse and is making
many homes uninsurable which will then make them uninhabitable. Floods
that may have been expected every 40 years or so now come along every
other year or two. So we will have to adapt. (too late for those living in
the flood plains, they will have to push for compensation from the fools
who permitted the buildings)
I was there about 15 years ago when they have gale force winds that not
only felled thousands of trees but even blew brick walls over .
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That may have been the infamous hurricane of 1987. Wasn't expected and
caused considerable damage. And it barely rated as a category 1.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/2533219.stm
We rarely get such winds but most structures survive, with some damage
perhaps. Trees don't seem to be able to withstand it though and they get
blown down all too easy.
Seems it is difficult to imagine many structures standing up to 120 MPH
winds ....
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That's true with conventionlal design, but if such winds were to become a
regular occurance we would have to adapt and design something that would
survive. Which is my point. Parts of the US are prone to hurricanes and
tornadoes but every year the pattern is the same. It must be possible to
built a practically priced structure that offers less resistance to the
wind and still functions well as a home.
It is reasonable to assume that weather patterns are in general are
changing and become more severe more often. That is certainly the case
here. Our winters are now mild and very very wet. Our summers seem to last
about 3 days (but then I suppose the Romans could have said that). If the
gulf stream stops we'll all freeze just like the Canadians or
Scandinavians and we are not geared up for it. We will all have to adapt
to the weather.
From what I hear hurricane intensity levels are cyclical, and from
predictions the worst is not even over for this season. We hear long ago how
much more intense winters and summers were here in the US and in the UK . I
was a kid in the UK during the winter of 1947 when there were 30 foot drifts
up in Derbyshire where whole passenger trains were buried. I was also around
when Linton and Lindmouth were flooded and that was about 40 or so years ago
in a similar location it seems . As far as that is concerned perhaps the
problem is not man made but purely geographical.
As I mentioned most modern building standards In Florida result in
structures which will withstand hurricane force winds . Building structures
which will withstand tornadic winds which are far more severe seems unlikely
unless they are below ground level....mjh