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georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Good luck, hurricane season is always a fun time in the southeast but I have to imagine it beats Tornado alley.

The binary nature of a tornado (it either hits or misses) vs. what constitutes a hurricane "hit" (the effects decrease rapidly as you move away from the eyewall, but flooding is often a secondary effect) make comparing the two almost a personal preference sort of risk.

A given acre of land in the "hottest" part of Tornado Alley is swept by significant tornado (EF-2 or higher) winds once every 10,000 years. In the southern third of Florida, a given acre is hit by swept by a hurricane (windspeed above 74 mph) 6 times every 100 years.

The damage severity is the "thing". Since aerodynamic drag is a square function, 111 mph wind causes considerably more structural damage than 74 mph wind. But flooding and related types of water damage can easily surpass either of them in both monetary and danger-to-life terms.

In short, you pays your money and you takes your choice, and hope neither of the damn things hits you while you're living there. lol
 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,273
4,269
The binary nature of a tornado (it either hits or misses) vs. what constitutes a hurricane "hit" (the effects decrease rapidly as you move away from the eyewall, but flooding is often a secondary effect) make comparing the two almost a personal preference sort of risk.

A given acre of land in the "hottest" part of Tornado Alley is swept by significant tornado (EF-2 or higher) winds once every 10,000 years. In the southern third of Florida, a given acre is hit by swept by a hurricane (windspeed above 74 mph) 6 times every 100 years.

The damage severity is the "thing". Since aerodynamic drag is a square function, 111 mph wind causes considerably more structural damage than 74 mph wind. But flooding and related types of water damage can easily surpass either of them in both monetary and danger-to-life terms.

In short, you pays your money and you takes your choice, and hope neither of the damn things hits you while you're living there. lol
I agree with every thing you say but to me the biggest difference is with a hurricane you have the opportunity to evacuate the area before the storm lands and if you're lucky you have time to seek shelter from a tornado.

As for those who say, "You can always move to a somewhere else.", I always ask, "Where in the country can you go that isn't in danger from some form of natural disaster?"
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
I’ve been through David and Andrew and all the big ones but one (phrasing) I’ve also lived in Boston and socal, I’ll take hurricanes over blizzards, earthquakes and fires, been through them all and hurricanes are my preference. Earthquakes are the scariest, i lived in a 17 story building when a 7.1 hit close, i didn’t want to go back to my apt, stayed at a friend’s place for a couple days after that one 😂
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Earthquakes are the scariest, i lived in a 17 story building when a 7.1 hit close, i didn’t want to go back to my apt, stayed at a friend’s place for a couple days after that one 😂

Speaking of earthquakes...

Skyscrapers aren't rigid, but are built to sway.

Different size skyscrapers sway at different rates when "activated" by the same earth motion.

How do the buildings of downtown Tokyo (or other high-rise city in a quake zone) not clash when they start swaying during an earthquake?

They're designed to sway at the same rate regardless of height, width, or materials they're made from.

The more you think about the engineering knowledge required to pull that off, the more your brain will hurt.

Especially when you realize that most of them were built before computer modeling even existed. It's the construction equivalent of having put a man on the Moon with a slide rule.
 
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georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
As for those who say, "You can always move to a somewhere else.", I always ask, "Where in the country can you go that isn't in danger from some form of natural disaster?"

Fun question.

Insurance company actuaries live to answer questions like that. lol

This is their All Natural Disasters Combined answer:


Screen Shot 2022-09-25 at 1.30.29 PM.png
 
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