why do people think that staying in a public building or high rise will keep them safer?
I guess IF I KNEW FOR SURE I could watch all safely from above it would be tempting.. but even poured concrete & reinforced concrete structures still can have problems.]
Saturated foundations, built into sand with significant height and weight are good candidates for toppling from wind and wave forcing. The best shelter on Galveston may be the buildings that are one story above the expected wave height, say the top floor of a seven story building.
I guess IF I KNEW FOR SURE I could watch all safely from above it would be tempting.. but even poured concrete & reinforced concrete structures still can have problems.]
Because they really don't understand what waves can do. If it were merely flooding or just wind, they'd have a point. What we're looking at is huge waves pounding on stuff for HOURS. I think what will be left will look like the remains of the tsunami. And I think that most of those people who are on Galveston trying to ride it out will die.
If the storm surge covers everything, where will they go? If the waves batter it as the storm surge rises, nothing stands a chance. How good of a swimmer to they think they are? The rip tides alone have to be incredible.
I don’t know if you can do this link. It’s a webcam from the FOXNews site. There’s two cams. Scroll across to the second one showing the shoreline. Look at how the picture is shaking. From the waves hitting it, no doubt.
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/live.html?chanId=3