The Hurricane Thread | Hurricane Rafael

Snowjoe said:
Yeah it says it happened this morning so the storm itself has long passed in that area so he wouldn't have been riding in the hurricane? Surfing like this isn't uncommon and he was a pro so he knew what could potentially happen. Sometimes in these sports you get got, it's very sad especially so young though.
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Indeed mate. I suspect a mixture of youthful exuberance, naivety and ignorance were all to blame. He probably thought it was his opportunity to ride some possible once in a lifetime waves and unfortunately paid the price for doing so.

All extreme sports require people to push the limits, be it their own or the elements. It's just sad he had to lose his life and my heart goes out to his friends and family.

Anyone who has surfed before knows the difference between clean and dirty seas, and you take a risk every single time you step on your board but especially so in dirty or messy waves. It's a shame for sure because this lad was set to become a future world champ. There's some good memorial vids already up on youtube. This lad was well loved and will sadly be missed.
 
Snowjoe said:
Yeah it says it happened this morning so the storm itself has long passed in that area so he wouldn't have been riding in the hurricane? Surfing like this isn't uncommon and he was a pro so he knew what could potentially happen. Sometimes in these sports you get got, it's very sad especially so young though.
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Actually happened last week on Monday or Tuesday I think
 
Dobba said:
I've looked into Richard Branson's story and some video that I absolutely haven't carefully edited doesn't even show a storm hitting his island at all. What a charlatan.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4875922/In-wake-Irma-satellite-images.html

Of course it hit his island. There are images all over the internet. Link above showing before and afterimage of areas of BVI.

There are many (over 50) islands comprising the British Virgin Islands (NOT named after his company Virgin - they are British Overseas Territories) and they have been badly damaged. All he was asking for was for aid to get to these islands to help the people whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. Nowhere did he ask for any aid for his own island.

His son has appealed for help for the islands

Spent the day organising mental logistics to get myself and what people need the most back out to the #bvi. Going to do my best to help the people on the ground there. If you have boats then please get them to the BVI. Stock them with Tarpaulins, food, water, batteries, torches, clothes, water purification tablets, hand sanitiser and anything else you think might be useful. There is some violence and looting starting to break out in Tortola so please help get aid asap. When people know they have food, water and a form of shelter hopefully the violence will stop. Thanks for all those that have helped me today. It been a big one. Going to be harrowing to see my home and so many others beloved places so decimated but will do all I can to get aid to the people that need it most! Link to support BVI in my bio above! #hurricaneirma #hurricanejose #aid#support #logistics #love #food #water #clothes #help #boats
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RB has also organised VIrgin Unite to raise money to help the islanders and the overheads are being covered by RB himself and the Virgin group.

Virgin Unite’s overheads are covered by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, meaning that 100% of all donations received will go directly to helping support local BVI communities.

https://www.virgin.com/unite/bvi-community-support-appeal
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JustAFan said:
Actually, while still not a smart move, I believe he was surfing in the waves created by the approach of the storm not during the actual hurricane itself. Though reports are conflicting.
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It's more likely he was surfing prior to the hurricane. The water would be extremely choppy during a hurricane and near impossible to paddle through. Never an ideal surfing condition.
 
Power is back, as is internet.

Kicker is, I'm only 1 block off the main road.

Schools in rural areas are still without power at this point. My school is about 10 miles into the countryside. Wondering if I'll work tomorrow at this point.
 
Carolina Red said:
Power is back, as is internet.

Kicker is, I'm only 1 block off the main road.

Schools in rural areas are still without power at this point. My school is about 10 miles into the countryside. Wondering if I'll work tomorrow at this point.
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Your a teacher, so no as always. :p

I am posting this from work
 
Organic Potatoes said:
1 in 4 of homes in the Keys destroyed reportedly.
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I still can't get my head around why a country with the resources of the US doesn't insist on hurricane proof buildings, it's not like these storms are a freak occurence in this part of the world.
 
11101 said:
I still can't get my head around why a country with the resources of the US doesn't insist on hurricane proof buildings, it's not like these storms are a freak occurence in this part of the world.
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Is there any country around that insists on building codes for Cat 4/5 hurricanes? I know earthquake codes have improved in places like San Fran and Japan, but how do you implement that for something approaching the immediate force of a high level tornado?
 
Organic Potatoes said:
Is there any country around that insists on building codes for Cat 4/5 hurricanes? I know earthquake codes have improved in places like San Fran and Japan, but how do you implement that for something approaching the immediate force of a high level tornado?
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Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China etc. all design buildings to withstand storms of similar power. Buildings can be made hurricane proof but in Florida people are still building wooden houses.
 
Did every single building in the area get destroyed?

If not then obviously many buildings are built to withstand hurricanes.

Many older buildings have not been retro-fitted for sure so they are susceptible to damage

But then we also have to look at what damage buildings took from what element of the storm? Tidal surge? Wind? Other flooding and it's side effects? Trees or other debris smashing into them? Other? Then see what can or can not be done to prevent the damage.
 
11101 said:
Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China etc. all design buildings to withstand storms of similar power. Buildings can be made hurricane proof but in Florida people are still building wooden houses.
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Was just about to say that, we rode out 14 direct or near direct hits from typhoons and tropical cyclones in our 5 years in HK and feck knows how many tropical storms that necessitated full closures of businesses and schools and the only worry was that one of the windows might start leaking despite the fact we lived in high rises up to the 26th floor. It's a case of balancing the values of land and property though, in HK land is scarce and property very expensive so they really focus on designing the drainage, slopes, defences and buildings to ensure they can take the worst nature can throw at them. The states being as big as it is land is not as much of a priority and the build it cheap and replace it if it blows away mentality seems to prevail despite the increased risk it poses to life.
 
11101 said:
Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China etc. all design buildings to withstand storms of similar power. Buildings can be made hurricane proof but in Florida people are still building wooden houses.
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And on top of that, so many developers cut corners based on my short experience with construction and remodeling.
 
11101 said:
Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China etc. all design buildings to withstand storms of similar power. Buildings can be made hurricane proof but in Florida people are still building wooden houses.
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Not taking anything lightly, but most of the homes that were destroyed are mobile homes. Solidly built homes are still standing with a little bit of damage from the storm, maybe heavy damage from the flooding.
 
ghagua said:
Not taking anything lightly, but most of the homes that were destroyed are mobile homes. Solidly built homes are still standing with a little bit of damage from the storm, maybe heavy damage from the flooding.
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I bet some of the buildings destroyed have in the past withstood hurricanes also.

flooding is s huge issue even if the building does not collapse just having the water permeate carpeting, flooring, wallcoverings, furniture etc you can get mold very quickly which fecks up the house.

More can be done to make areas less prone to hurricane caused flooding but not sure you can prevent it all.
 
11101 said:
Taiwan, Hong Kong, South China etc. all design buildings to withstand storms of similar power. Buildings can be made hurricane proof but in Florida people are still building wooden houses.
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I did some googling and it seems plenty of structures in the areas you mention are heavily damaged and destroyed by typhoons (high winds, flooding,etc). So let's not go overboard and pretend they are immune to the effects of these storms.


Remember also that not every hurricane causes massive widespread destruction.

I see in one post a mention of a 26 story building withstanding typhoons, Guess what those buildings tend not to be destroyed in the US either.
 
JustAFan said:
I did some googling and it seems plenty of structures in the areas you mention are heavily damaged and destroyed by typhoons (high winds, flooding,etc). So let's not go overboard and pretend they are immune to the effects of these storms.


Remember also that not every hurricane causes massive widespread destruction.

I see in one post a mention of a 26 story building withstanding typhoons, Guess what those buildings tend not to be destroyed in the US either.
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Of course there is damage but it's largely superficial, trees knocked over, loose items thrown around etc. and everything is back to normal within a couple of days. Buildings don't collapse, small or big, and people don't often die. Everything is built with the storms in mind.

When they hit desperately poor countries like the Philippines or rural areas of China where people live in tin shacks it's a different story, but the US is the richest country in the world.
 
JustAFan said:
I did some googling and it seems plenty of structures in the areas you mention are heavily damaged and destroyed by typhoons (high winds, flooding,etc). So let's not go overboard and pretend they are immune to the effects of these storms.


Remember also that not every hurricane causes massive widespread destruction.

I see in one post a mention of a 26 story building withstanding typhoons, Guess what those buildings tend not to be destroyed in the US either.
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Actually I mentioned living on the 26th floor and weathering 14 typhoons worrying about nothing more than a leaky window but every structure in Hong Kong has to be typhoon proof to ensure there is no knock on threat where a small building is torn apart, hitting a mid size building etc and creating a domino effect. I know the high rises in Miami are designed for hurricanes but where is the use in that if the surrounding properties and infrastructure can be torn apart and thrown at them.

In Hong Kong even earth structures and slopes that might impact roads or buildings have to be designed for full typhoon loading and storm surges, my job over there was designing them and the marine walls on one road project had a design storm surge of MST + 9m based on a direct hit at the worst possible angle where a storm surge might be funneled through island channels on its approach. Hong Kong has practically zero damage or death in typhoons with the exceptions of boats which fail to make safe harbour and idiots who think it's time to take photos and youtube videos because they feel artificially safe.

Taipei and Shenzhen are similar but once you get away from the city centres into rural Taiwan and Guangdong it's a similar tale to the US.
 
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