Tornadoes remind us that life is more than VP

[MikeA]

JEEZE....This talk of mine about tornadoes does NOT belong in VP Strategy <sigh>.  My apologies folks.  Webman, could you move this so that it doesn't clutter what I think is a very pertinent thread?

[harpo777]

I'm not seeing where you got too far off track Mike.  I've spent some time reading through these threads today and your point about the tornadoes appeared to bring out a few concerned responses.  Please remember it's only video poker we're talking about and if issues of great importance (which the deadly weather IS in your parts right now) affect anyone who posts then why not bring it up? 
 
I also see the continuance of the apparent ongoing feud between shadowman and babybubba.  I believe Mr. Fa La La La La.... La la la la was showing thanks for the weather he enjoys in his state and his post included mention of the lack of dangerous weather or events.  I also reside in Arizona and I concur wholeheartedly with his point.  However, I can fully understand shadowman's urge to point out past occurrences of those events here.  But it was obviously done in a meanspirited way because just about everywhere has a touch of them now and then, and whenever they occur in Arizona they are rarely even reported in the news or known about by the people who live here.  If these issues set off shadowman's blood pressure then he definitely seems to have a blatant insecurity when it comes to Mr. Fa La La La La.... La la la la (although I didn't really need this confirmation after re-reading through the thread on the Nevada regulations)

[shadowman]

  However, I can fully understand shadowman's urge to point out past occurrences of those events here.  But it was obviously done in a meanspirited way because just about everywhere has a touch of them now and then, and whenever they occur in Arizona they are rarely even reported in the news or known about by the people who live here.  If these issues set off shadowman's blood pressure then he definitely seems to have a blatant insecurity when it comes to Mr. Fa La La La La.... La la la la (although I didn't really need this confirmation after re-reading through the thread on the Nevada regulations)
 
Why would you say "mean-spirited"?

[Webman]

This discussion of tornadoes has been moved from the previous thread.  Carry on.

[MikeA]

Thanks Webman.
 
BTW...Kansas is still getting clobbered.  Another tornado touched down right at Haviland which is only a few miles east of Greensberg.  Then today (Sunday), Greensberg got pounded with hail!  About the only thing left that hasn't been done to that town is that the earth opens up and swallows it!
 
As for the tornado that hit Greensberg...it has been classified as an F5 (261mph+ MPH wind speed based on estimates from dammage evidence)  measured at 1.4 miles in width while on the ground. 

[Webman]

261 MPH? Unreal.

[faygo]

Thanks Webman.
 
BTW...Kansas is still getting clobbered.  Another tornado touched down right at Haviland which is only a few miles east of Greensberg.  Then today (Sunday), Greensberg got pounded with hail!  About the only thing left that hasn't been done to that town is that the earth opens up and swallows it!
 
As for the tornado that hit Greensberg...it has been classified as an F5 (261mph+ MPH wind speed based on estimates from dammage evidence)  measured at 1.4 miles in width while on the ground. 

 
Simply unreal. 261mph winds. I spent most of my life in Southeastern Michigan were tornadoes were always a threat. Fortunately I never had to experience one first hand.
Having moved to North Carolina people were warning me about hurricanes, they are nothing compared to the destuctive force of a tornado. Also, we get weeks of warning to prepare or leave(Harrahs Cherokee has been a good place of refuge) not like a tornado that is upon one with at the most 1/2 hr. notice.
Mike, again it is good to know that the storms have missed you.

[MikeA]

Faygo,
 
I do not minimize Hurricanes!  You may have more warning but they are so huge.  Possibly, loss of life is or should be, less with a hurricane because of the longer warning, but the loss of property...there is no comparrison!
 
In the tornado that hit Andover in '91, we lost 13 people.  No one should have been killed by that tornado!  The lives were all lost in a mobile home court and that court had an underground shelter.  People were standing outside on the streets watching that F5 come straight at them.  Police and other emergency vehicles were driving around at slow speeds with sirens wailing and the storm sirens were also blasting.  TV was giving it uninterrupted coverage over a half hour before it ever reached Andover.  People just ignored the warnings!
 
Apparently, those in Greensberg did heed the warnings.  Some just couldn't make it to adequate shelter and anything short of being underground in that storm was INADEQUATE.  Had they not, the death toll would have been much higher.  And, it might grow higher as they sift through the rubble.

[rascal]

Yeah, I spent a lot of my life in hurricane country. Plenty of time to prepare and get out unless you happen to live in New Orleans. 145 mph sustained winds in a hurricane will about wipe everything out, so you can imagine what 261 in a twisting tornado funnel will do. Looking at the photos, it will be very instructive for the engineering types to go into Greensburg and examine those few structures that were left standing, with the thought of building tornado-resistant structures. It is also very interesting to me that the insurance companies that are now in the process of pulling out of hurricane country are still writing homeowners policies in Tornado Alley.

[bigboy]

Looking at the photos, it will be very instructive for the engineering types to go into Greensburg and examine those few structures that were left standing, with the thought of building tornado-resistant structures.
 
 
This was the lead story on all the wires this morning and they all are claiming that there is only one structure(a tavern) that withstood the tornado. I think it will be awhile before they can devise an economically feasible method of building to withstand something like that. From what i recall with Hurricane Andrew in Florida, it appears that to build to withstand in excess of 150mph is not real practical.