A former friend of mine lives right at the water's edge in Florida. It is not his house but that is beside the point. I said, "So, if the house is destroyed by flooding, is it wise to rebuild?" "I like the view and will stay and rebuild." Was his answer. No problem. You stay there, but insurance shouldn't be good for the third time round. Go ahead, stay even when the facts are changing.
Saw a world map of lightning strikes that is kept up to date. That should tell all. Also impressive was the green that followed the strikes given moisture and time to recover. That would be a changing fact for our future.
Saw a world map of lightning strikes that is kept up to date. That should tell all. Also impressive was the green that followed the strikes given moisture and time to recover. That would be a changing fact for our future.
Houses can be built to be quite fire resistant. Layout of the land factors in too; don't plant bushes within 50 feet of the building, and a deck (kindling) is a bad idea.
Houses can be made much more tornado resistant too. Insurance pays to rebuild the same which is stupid in tornado alley. With a few cleats and a design sans eaves and overhangs, a house can withstand much more wind than the usual design allows. Hurricane shutters help a lot too, which brings me to my final point.
I remember seeing a picture of the remnants of a beachfront community after a hurricane swept through. You wouldn't know there was a community there because even the debris was blown away; all that was left was some stilts and one lone house. This house was way up on stilts, had hurricane shutters, and had absolutely no eaves or overhangs. Some of the siding had blown off, but the roof was still on it. I'm pretty sure that it had a few features to make it stand up to a hurricane, which demonstrates that it can be done.
Houses can be made much more tornado resistant too. Insurance pays to rebuild the same which is stupid in tornado alley. With a few cleats and a design sans eaves and overhangs, a house can withstand much more wind than the usual design allows. Hurricane shutters help a lot too, which brings me to my final point.
I remember seeing a picture of the remnants of a beachfront community after a hurricane swept through. You wouldn't know there was a community there because even the debris was blown away; all that was left was some stilts and one lone house. This house was way up on stilts, had hurricane shutters, and had absolutely no eaves or overhangs. Some of the siding had blown off, but the roof was still on it. I'm pretty sure that it had a few features to make it stand up to a hurricane, which demonstrates that it can be done.
You know, that is a very good point. I wouldn't have believed it but after seeing some kind of special about building a house that would withstand a hurricane (I forget what category but seems like winds of 140 mph were the goal). They did things different with the type of fasteners used to even the type of insulation (foam) and of course a floor plan that tied things together strongly. And yes, it was on stilts. Details went on but the surprise is that it didn't cost a million dollars.
The former friend that I mentioned in my last post has lost housing due to 2 fires and 1 flood. In his case, he never learned. One bad choice after another. This is what bothers me with humans. Slow to learn even with experience.
The former friend that I mentioned in my last post has lost housing due to 2 fires and 1 flood. In his case, he never learned. One bad choice after another. This is what bothers me with humans. Slow to learn even with experience.
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I suppose a lack of eaves, covered decks, and other overhanging roofs make sense for tornado alley. The problem then is there's no shading of windows, which means a quadrillion ton air conditioner which means, at least in North America, a further increase in emissions from coal or natural gas electrical generation ... and so the cycle accelerates.
And you have nice forests out there 😁
I don't have your forests, but do have a fair number of trees on our 80 acres. I'm working to clear the deadfall from the areas nearest the house, keeping a fairly large mowed perimeter (I won't call it lawn, because it would be a waste of ground-sourced water) and have a metal roof.
The fire I helped put out long ago was started by a cigarette butt thrown on the ground. Got it early so less than 25 acres burned.
Years back significant parts of West Virginia burned. The smoke here smelled really bad due to all the small stuff also burned.
The smoke now from Canada smells like just a nice wood fire.
Always going to be forest fires as long as we have forests. The old approach was to suppress all fires. The coming into favor approach is to allow small fires or controlled burns to reduce the ground based small stuff that acts as tinder.
For the current fires folks are coming not just from the U.S. but also Europe to help fight the fire. It is that big. Also some newbies will be allowed to learn a bit. (Eyebrows grow back, I know first hand!)
Years back significant parts of West Virginia burned. The smoke here smelled really bad due to all the small stuff also burned.
The smoke now from Canada smells like just a nice wood fire.
Always going to be forest fires as long as we have forests. The old approach was to suppress all fires. The coming into favor approach is to allow small fires or controlled burns to reduce the ground based small stuff that acts as tinder.
For the current fires folks are coming not just from the U.S. but also Europe to help fight the fire. It is that big. Also some newbies will be allowed to learn a bit. (Eyebrows grow back, I know first hand!)
Something that I learned in Arizona was how different types of window treatment matter. Every one of us probably thought that putting a window tint on the inside of the window was a good idea. It just isn't the best though. Using special screens that go on the outside of the glass prevent the glass mass to heat from the sun. It's called '80% shade' covering. You make a frame, install the fabric, which is very tough stuff, and then mount it. I also see nothing wrong with an awning as long as it isn't attached to the roof. Yes, you might lose it in the storm, but it won't take part of the roof with it. calculated loss I guess.
Wasting water has always been on my mind, but now I live not far from an irrigation ditch that has an unimaginable flow of water. There is evaporation to be sure, but I wonder how much might benefit our ground water source. Unless you have seen flood irrigation, it is like trying to imagine the Grand Canyon without ever gone there. Agriculture is vital, but I am sure that there must be better ways to distribute the water needed. Unfortunately, the cost is another Grand Canyon type of example.
Wasting water has always been on my mind, but now I live not far from an irrigation ditch that has an unimaginable flow of water. There is evaporation to be sure, but I wonder how much might benefit our ground water source. Unless you have seen flood irrigation, it is like trying to imagine the Grand Canyon without ever gone there. Agriculture is vital, but I am sure that there must be better ways to distribute the water needed. Unfortunately, the cost is another Grand Canyon type of example.
Smoke is nothing to take lightly 'I will get over it, or tough it out'. No it is damaging sometimes for a long stretch after the incident. I think that the proper mask would be advisable for outdoor activity that has to be done. Otherwise, indoors is better if you own some kind of filtering system that can handle it. Not easy.
To paraphrase something I read, 'For three days the little town of Lytton held the record for the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Canada. And on the fouth day it burned down to the ground.'
Apocalyptic...
Climate change is real but global warming is blamed for far too many weather events. Randomness of weather and poor management are often more responsible. Decades of forest fire suppression has, in many areas, created an enormous amount of deadfall on the forest floor. Guess what happens when you have an unusually warm and dry winter. After several bad fire seasons, British Columbia in western Canada is reducing forest fire risk through controlled burns and cleanup of the forest floor near populated areas.
Cliff Mass, an Atmospheric Scientist at the University of Washington, has a really informative blog. His latest blog post (https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-worst-air-quality-in-new-york.html) helps explain why the air quality in the eastern US is so bad.
Cliff Mass, an Atmospheric Scientist at the University of Washington, has a really informative blog. His latest blog post (https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-worst-air-quality-in-new-york.html) helps explain why the air quality in the eastern US is so bad.
What were once considered one in a hundred year events, are now occuring several times a decade. I wouldn't call those random weather events.
jeff
Glass, aluminum, steel, concrete, rock do not burn. A good receipe for the outside of the house.
dave
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I live in Denver CO and had to watch the Boulder fire that happened 18 months ago or so closely to see if we had to evacuate or not.
1100 structures were a total loss including a house I rented about 1991 or so.
One thing that did not help in the newer homes that burned was the wood fencing that was required per building code. Flamable decks attached to the house was another fire entry path.
1100 structures were a total loss including a house I rented about 1991 or so.
One thing that did not help in the newer homes that burned was the wood fencing that was required per building code. Flamable decks attached to the house was another fire entry path.
I have never been in an emergency situation by fire or flood. I just can't imagine the feelings and disruptions that this would cause, let alone physical harm to my family. I remember visiting my daughter once in Virginia Beach and one night a storm hit so hard, that it really looked like someone was throwing bucket after bucket of water slapping against the picture window. "What happens if that breaks?" I thought. Just that much changes everything.