Harvey go away!

[BandB]

I think that video is pretty typical of the Rockport damage. High school was heavily damaged. It was the most direct and serious hit with a couple of other small communities near it hit hard. This storm is taking many forms so you have CAT4 (or 3 listening to Bigfish) causing tremendous wind damage in a small coastal area and rain elsewhere and now reduced winds to CAT 1 but tremendous continuation of rain in the same areas.

[chriscritchett]

Whew, thanks for clarifying.

[Baker]

And we ain't out of the woods yet....Houston just doesn't have the infrastructure to get rid of water quickly.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Bigsfish

All. Please remember the news organizations always look for the "worst" images to show because that is what sells. Not trying to minimize the cat 1 hurricane but you will never see an average of the area only the most damaged.

Well, the heavy damage was caused when it was a CAT 4/3.

I think one thing you might tend to overlook too is the building codes of Miami Dade. That's become a standard for construction and for insurers. In Broward county a homeowner of an older home can save huge money on insurance by upgrading to those standards. I have a friend in Pompano who got a two year payback on all new windows and doors.

It's my understanding, although I wasn't here, that none of the Lennar built homes of Country Walk which were destroyed by Andrew would pass code today.

[Bigsfish]

Yes, Dade County has the highest building standards in the country and that saves many homes and lives but even older homes (built in the 1950s ) were built to high standards but mandated by the county because the builders knew the risks. Homes built in costal areas were like fishing shacks in many areas of northwestern Florida through Texas. Those would suffer quite a bit of damage. A friend has such a shack in La. along the water for fishing and every blow it gets knocked down and he and friends rebuild it in a couple of weekends. He catches plenty of fish. LOL

[SaltyDawg86]

At least 3 tugs went down. Crews on barges, exposed.

[Bigsfish]

BandB

Not sure how much the building codes gave changed since Andrew but most of the country building inspectors lost their jobs after Andrew after it came out they were taking payoffs from the builders. Roofs that were approved didn't have the wind straps to tie it to the foundation, tarpaper on the roof did not have even one half the amount of fasteners required by code.

[Baker]

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg86

At least 3 tugs went down. Crews on barges, exposed.

I heard about that...they are still trying to rescue the crews. The USCG has 2 MH65s on the scene to get them out.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg86

At least 3 tugs went down. Crews on barges, exposed.

Where were they?

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Bigsfish

BandB

Not sure how much the building codes gave changed since Andrew but most of the country building inspectors lost their jobs after Andrew after it came out they were taking payoffs from the builders. Roofs that were approved didn't have the wind straps to tie it to the foundation, tarpaper on the roof did not have even one half the amount of fasteners required by code.

Well, Country Walk was reduced to a lot of wood piles so it was the worst example. Codes did also change. I don't know the degree of change. I just know that the words "Miami/Dade code" are tossed around a lot, but it makes sense. Everyone advertises to meet those codes in our area.

[SaltyDawg86]

Originally Posted by BandB

Where were they?

Lydia Ann Channel near Corpus.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by SaltyDawg86

Lydia Ann Channel near Corpus.

I saw where the CG was flying in to get crew.

What made the tugs sink?

[Ski in NC]

Wow, lots of wind damage.

Right out of school, I went through hurricane Hugo in Charleston. Lots of wind damage there, too. But there was a pattern detectable: Old structures often failed, new ones did not. The new building codes actually worked. Things built to the new code usually had little damage, maybe shingles or siding.

I think part of the reason there is so much wind damage is that that area has not been hit by a strong storm in a long while (???).

Similar thing to Sandy. A few years before Sandy hit, I transited the area via water and saw what they had built in the shore area. Comment I made to myself was "y'all must not get storms here.." Lots of obviously vulnerable structures. Well, they did get a storm and there was a good bit of weeding of the weak ones. Just like in Charleston and now Corpus area.

[Baker]

Originally Posted by Ski in NC

Wow, lots of wind damage.

Right out of school, I went through hurricane Hugo in Charleston. Lots of wind damage there, too. But there was a pattern detectable: Old structures often failed, new ones did not. The new building codes actually worked. Things built to the new code usually had little damage, maybe shingles or siding.

I think part of the reason there is so much wind damage is that that area has not been hit by a strong storm in a long while (???).

Similar thing to Sandy. A few years before Sandy hit, I transited the area via water and saw what they had built in the shore area. Comment I made to myself was "y'all must not get storms here.." Lots of obviously vulnerable structures. Well, they did get a storm and there was a good bit of weeding of the weak ones. Just like in Charleston and now Corpus area.

Same thing in Crystal Beach Texas for Ike. It was actually comical because there were about a total of 10 new beach houses out of about 500+...and the entire place was absolutely leveled...destroyed....except those few little houses just sitting there all alone. Now EVERYTHING is brand new!!! They will do signifcantly better next time!!

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by BandB

In Broward county a homeowner of an older home can save huge money on insurance by upgrading to those standards.

Yep. Our house was new enough so it complied with current roof-related codes.... and then we added bolt-on shutters for practically nothing once the additional insurance credits kicked in.

-Chris

[BandB]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Yep. Our house was new enough so it complied with current roof-related codes.... and then we added bolt-on shutters for practically nothing once the additional insurance credits kicked in.

-Chris

Between those type upgrades and us being reclassified out of the major flood zone, our property insurance is about 1/3 what the previous owners were paying.

[tallswede]

We have an old house. The first parts of it were built in the 1930's with additions here and there. It sits on cinder blocks and the storm surge from Ike almost got in. The beauty of the place is that it is surrounded by tall bamboo and trees outboard of that which make an excellent wind break. If our house was sitting exposed on the beach, it would have blown away long ago.

Kevin

[Capt Jack]

The video looks pretty similar to our area after Charlie. The advantage we has was a fast moving storm with little surge. Wind damage looks very similar. Stay safe all! Hope Harvey moves on soon