Posted on 11/04/2005 11:10:43 PM PST by conservative in nyc
Hurricane Wilma, with its 120-mph winds, punched South Florida in the gut.
A record 6-million people lost power. About 15,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in a three-county region, preliminary estimates show, with many of those homes inhabited by the elderly or poor. At least 27 people statewide died after the Oct. 24 storm, most from carbon monoxide poisoning or traffic crashes.
Yet compared to the concentrated fury of Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda last year, or to the widespread death and devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast in August, Wilma spared South Florida - and especially its suburban residents - from major destruction.
One wouldn't know it from listening to folks here.
"George W. Bush is forgetting about the little people, just like in New Orleans," said Cassie Williams, 51, of Fort Lauderdale. "We need food, we need water and we need checks."
Williams, whose home was not damaged, railed against the system on Oct. 26 - two days after the storm hit - while waiting three hours to eat a lukewarm chicken breast at a Salvation Army center. The complaints - especially coming from people who admitted they hadn't prepared, who had roofs over their heads, who had running water, who even had open supermarkets down the street - raised the ire of talk-show hosts, bloggers and pundits around the country.
"People need to be prepared and they are not because most of them are irresponsible and depending on the government for everything," read one typical post on Freerepublic.com. "When the gov. does not have bottles of water and ice on their footstep an hour after the hurricane they are complaining. Tough. Be responsible and stop the dependance (sic) on others."
(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...
My neighborhood in south Dade was struck very hard by Andrew...next door's home was totalled in terms of dollar value - was still standing, but a complete wreck that far exceeded the ability of its insurance policy to repair. Same with the one on the other side, which actually experienced wall failure. A few houses were completely demolished. Almost all had windows and doors blown out and were missing pieces of roof.
Yet I don't remember much complaining or demanding of help from FEMA. People just worked together and did what they had to do to get going again.
I can't figure out whether the fiasco at NOLA after Katrina has changed the way we think in the USA, or whether we had already changed so much for the worse, and Katrina just brought it out in the open. But I vote for the latter.
Whatever the case, Katrina has been the catalyst for a huge apparent increase in governmental authority.
Not me-- anymore, I'm sure I am on the auto-delete list but before that I did get that guy Deggans to admit to me that he is a Bush Hater--like most at the SPSlimes....
Clearly, the building codes in FL are still inadequate, considering that everybody agrees we're going into a multi decadal increase in hurricane frequency.
I lived in Guam, where strong typhoons are expected every few years. You just don't see wood frame houses and A frame roofs, period. Houses are all "typhoon proof" cement or block. That's just how life is. It should be in FL too.
That's very interesting...I believe I've read or heard (probably here) that the typhoons of the south Pacific tend to routinely be a good bit stronger than our Atlantic hurricanes. If so, it shows that hurricanse need not be such disasters on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
My 1950's house, which has a plywood roof with gravel, nailed onto 2x4 rafters, every 13", in the normal style, used to belong to an engineer who built with a mind to hurricane resistance. It has 4 massive wood beams running lengthwise the entire length of the house, all with hurricane straps attached to every rafter, which means that the number of hurricane straps is about triple what another house of similar sq footage would contain. These beams in turn are attached to vertical columns through embedded steel plate with 3/4" bolts. The column are similarly attached to steel plate set under the slab.
The fact that it was the only house with fairly minimal damage after Andrew says something. OTOH, I boarded up every window, which many people did not, the last hurricane having been long enough ago to have bred complacency.
Nevertheless, while I consider it to be hurricane resistant, I don't think I'd use the word "proof." All would have been for nought had a large pine fallen on her, for instance. The ones you describe are undoubtedly better. You can't beat poured concrete, IMO.
Well another factor in Guam is transportation costs, and local building skills. Cememt and block are made locally, and the locals now how to use it. No doubt a wood frame house can be built very tough, like yours, but for production builders the pressure is always on to cut costs and skimp where it doesn't show. Personally, I'd rather just live in a cement "bunker" like in Guam, and laugh at the winds. Tree across the roof? No big deal.
Plus, in hurricane prone areas which are water short (not north FL!) such as the Bahamas, flat cement roofs are typically used as rain water catchments leading to cement cisterns for water storage. Obviously, this is not a factor in NW FL!
PS: we're moving to the Pcola area next year. Probably Pace/Milton.
Here's an early warm welcome to Florida!
I can remember when I was a kid, the area along Hwy. 90 was basically country. Now the traffic is pretty heavy. You will have possbily the most conservative member of Congress, Jeff Miller, as your representative.
I think I must be out of the loop on this. What are you talking about?
You don't have to worry about perishable food storage in a winter storm. Nobody should be whining for ice either. Is it possible to have a prefab gas fireplace installed in your home? A friend of mine did that a few years ago--it was a lifesaver after a nasty ice storm.
Hannity is lurking here too. Now the real FEMA will step in in Ky and Indiana when those states follow the rules and ask them to come in.
I've scanned. I need to ping Viking Kitty after I post Fema's jpeg. Apparently, there's a Viking Kitty club for our cats. agincourt mentioned it.
Definitely wouldn't have to worry about perishable food storage during an extended cold spell. Unfortunately there's no room to place a prefab gas fireplace. I had thought about installing a wood burning free standing stove but after allowing footage for the heat resistant tiles and the venting, that's not an option either. I neglected to mention I rent and while my landlord is all for us doing improvements, we'd run into the problem of where to place a stove since the house is somewhat on the small side. It's just the right size for two people, two dogs and a cat. At Christmas it gets crowded when my son stays for several days and M-I-L and Aunt-In-Law come for the day.
We may need to invest in a small generator; one that can run a few lights, the computer, the television and the microwave. Oh, and I'll buy a couple of new kerosene heaters that fiance won't be allowed to touch or modify in any way! I don't have a clue why he messed with the other two and disabled a couple of safety devices as well as replaced the netting with the wrong size. Hmmmph, men! The things they do and why they do them baffles me at times.
Nice seal. But where is the kitty?
Getting better and better!
Are you in NW FL?
Tampa Bay
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