Trampolines rolling like tumbleweeds in a storm - hilarious! Before a recent windstorm, the Comanche County Emergency Management Agency posted a photo of colorful trash cans on Facebook with this: "Ah, yes, it’s this magical time of year when we see the migration of the Common Trashus Cannis. They come in many different plumages but each share a common trait - they take flight during Oklahoma Winds.
(A side note, occasionally the unofficial state bird of Oklahoma, the Trampolinius Centrificus can also be seen in streets, alleys, or the odd backyard during times of high winds.) "
We had two hurricane-force storms when I lived in Washington state. One blew the Hood Canal Floating Bridge into oblivion. The second downed trees all over town (I could hear them snapping in the creek canyon), and our lawn was completely covered with evergreen branches when it was done. Of course, that was nothing compared to spending a horrific night with Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
Here in Oklahoma, I need a new roof due to golf ball-plus-sized hail in June. I'm considering the more impact-resistant shingles, but if I could afford metal I'd do that. The Department of Defense has long been planning for the effects of climate change on its installations. But I guess that's too "woke" for Republicans to heed.
I like that county FB post. Might as well have a sense of humor about such things.
My brother mentioned that the price premium for getting the higher grade of roof wasn't bad. Most of the cost of a new roof is labor. Better materials didn't add too much.
I understand being tempted by metal. I guess it is thick enough and hard enough not to be deformed by most hail.
My personal big wind experience was hurricane Alicia in 1983 (category 3, about 130 mph at landfall). I was 30 miles inland, didn't even lose any of my roof although most neighbors did. But it was a long night, and I wouldn't ever want to ride out more of a storm than that. Getting into hurricane force or tornado force wind is no fun. Downed trees, ripped-off roofs, wrecked bridges (like the one you mentioned), all sorts of stuff. Looks like we have more of that ahead here in the coming years.
With Alicia, wind was more of a problem than rain. Some streets in downtown Houston were reportedly deep in broken glass from skyscrapers. My neighborhood had at least one sheet of plywood that ripped off someone's house and flew around. I sneaked outside while the eye was going over and dragged it in so it wouldn't fly around any more. The damned thing was deadly. But we didn't flood.
Rain was the big problem with tropical storm Claudette in 1979 (42 inches of rain in 24 hours where I lived, which at the time was a record for the continental USA). Southeast Texas got hit again with tropical storm Allison in 2001. I wasn't in Texas for big floods after that. Hurricanes Rita (2005, wind & flooding), Ike (2008) and Harvey (2017, dwarfed Claudette's flooding, Port Arthur got about 65 inches of rain in 3 days and the whole Texas coast got similar amounts) come to mind.
Mother Nature has been shouting at us for a while.
Powers That Be need to step up, but we've let it all spiral so much that I think we're getting to "all hands on deck" territory. We've got to think in terms of where this is going, not what it has historically been. I wanted a microwind turbine at our house. We don't have it yet and I'm going to have to put it off longer. The winds in these storms are now too close to the design limit of the turbines. If we put a turbine up, it'll probably get destroyed. That's the type of thing the infrastructure professor was talking about on the radio.
Trampolines rolling like tumbleweeds in a storm - hilarious! Before a recent windstorm, the Comanche County Emergency Management Agency posted a photo of colorful trash cans on Facebook with this: "Ah, yes, it’s this magical time of year when we see the migration of the Common Trashus Cannis. They come in many different plumages but each share a common trait - they take flight during Oklahoma Winds.
(A side note, occasionally the unofficial state bird of Oklahoma, the Trampolinius Centrificus can also be seen in streets, alleys, or the odd backyard during times of high winds.) "
We had two hurricane-force storms when I lived in Washington state. One blew the Hood Canal Floating Bridge into oblivion. The second downed trees all over town (I could hear them snapping in the creek canyon), and our lawn was completely covered with evergreen branches when it was done. Of course, that was nothing compared to spending a horrific night with Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
Here in Oklahoma, I need a new roof due to golf ball-plus-sized hail in June. I'm considering the more impact-resistant shingles, but if I could afford metal I'd do that. The Department of Defense has long been planning for the effects of climate change on its installations. But I guess that's too "woke" for Republicans to heed.
Glad you were okay!
I like that county FB post. Might as well have a sense of humor about such things.
My brother mentioned that the price premium for getting the higher grade of roof wasn't bad. Most of the cost of a new roof is labor. Better materials didn't add too much.
I understand being tempted by metal. I guess it is thick enough and hard enough not to be deformed by most hail.
My personal big wind experience was hurricane Alicia in 1983 (category 3, about 130 mph at landfall). I was 30 miles inland, didn't even lose any of my roof although most neighbors did. But it was a long night, and I wouldn't ever want to ride out more of a storm than that. Getting into hurricane force or tornado force wind is no fun. Downed trees, ripped-off roofs, wrecked bridges (like the one you mentioned), all sorts of stuff. Looks like we have more of that ahead here in the coming years.
I remember you going through that. Wasn’t flooding a big problem with Alicia?
With Alicia, wind was more of a problem than rain. Some streets in downtown Houston were reportedly deep in broken glass from skyscrapers. My neighborhood had at least one sheet of plywood that ripped off someone's house and flew around. I sneaked outside while the eye was going over and dragged it in so it wouldn't fly around any more. The damned thing was deadly. But we didn't flood.
Rain was the big problem with tropical storm Claudette in 1979 (42 inches of rain in 24 hours where I lived, which at the time was a record for the continental USA). Southeast Texas got hit again with tropical storm Allison in 2001. I wasn't in Texas for big floods after that. Hurricanes Rita (2005, wind & flooding), Ike (2008) and Harvey (2017, dwarfed Claudette's flooding, Port Arthur got about 65 inches of rain in 3 days and the whole Texas coast got similar amounts) come to mind.
Mother Nature has been shouting at us for a while.
I am so glad you & V are safe. That photo you shared is awful to see; I can't imagine the force needed to snap the trunk of a tree that size.
Ma Nature is definitely ticked and is letting us know it. We can only hope the PTB will take note and start doing something about it.
Powers That Be need to step up, but we've let it all spiral so much that I think we're getting to "all hands on deck" territory. We've got to think in terms of where this is going, not what it has historically been. I wanted a microwind turbine at our house. We don't have it yet and I'm going to have to put it off longer. The winds in these storms are now too close to the design limit of the turbines. If we put a turbine up, it'll probably get destroyed. That's the type of thing the infrastructure professor was talking about on the radio.