will there be anymore tropical systems to hit houston?

Speaking as someone who has been thru several, including Alicia in 1983, I can tell you to go ahead, go outside and have some fun. If you had been outside at my apartments during Alicia, you could have watched the three apartments adjacent to mine collapse, a tree get uprooted and tossed into the swimming pool, or you might have seen an entire used car lot of cars get washed into a giant pile in the middle of the street.

Loads of outdoor fun.

 

In answer to your question, I'll go out on a limb and say yes.

When you play outside in the hurricane Darwin and I suggest you try flying a kite with copper string. You could pretend your Ben Franklin and discover electricity. That'd be so cool.

 

I just love death and destruction at the hands of mother nature.

By the way, the most destructive tropical weather system ever to hit Houston hit us last year - Allison.

 

DOWN BOYS

I love hurricanes as well.

he is not celebrating death and destruction at the hands of mother nature, rather the pure strength and awe that a stopical system posseses.

I can calmly and plainly state that I am in awe of what Adolf hitler did without supporting his policies toward human beings.

I go outside during storms.

I walk in downpours, I "play in hurricanes" I even have surfed them, I love sitting on a porch during a hellacios lightning storm. one where you can smell the Ozone created by the lightning strikes. I am not an idiot, and I am not a fan of whatever human dispair they may cause. I was in 2 houses hit by lightning as a kid, so i might as well be outside. the view is better.

on the note of human tradgedy brought upon by hurricanes, all I can think of is... dont be an idiot. dont build your home on the side of a volcano, in a flood plane, or on a fault line. if you want your water view, you better know that hurricanes will eventually come. and when they do, do what the police/weather chanel say. evacuate, or take caution

if you loose your house dont be upset, it could be called an eventuality. all the $$ damages are just that$$$, who cares. if retaining wealth property cars etc doring natural disasters is so important to you, dont build/live in a hurricane zone, or at least get good insurance.

and furthermore. I love weather
I just walked in a downpour last night. its awsome!!!

 

VOR: Maybe you should actually know the facts before you go spouting off. My grandparents lived in their home for 50 years and never once got even close to flood waters. They got 18 inches in their home during Allison. My wheelchair-bound grandmother sobbed as they forced her to lay on a soaked bed for 12 hours.

Since their home was not in the flood plane, they had no flood insurance. Why should they? Flood waters had NEVER come remotely close to their home. Well, it cost them $40,000 to do the repairs to a home that had long been paid off.

Others weren't as lucky. Some lost the homes they'd been in for years and got nothing in return. But, it's only money. Who cares?

None of these people were living on the waterfront. None of them ever expected flooding. This wasn't like a random tornado or big gust of wind. This was billions gallons of water that should have never come near their homes.

So, the next time you have the bright idea that human tragedy at the hands of mother nature is the fault of the people who suffered, think again.

 

Do I look like Bill Bellis, Chuck George, Frank Billingsly??? There's like a 20-30% chance of rain all week this coming week I think or was that for this past week, Idunno!

Sunday: A mix of clouds and sun. High 93F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Sunday night: Partly cloudy. Low 74F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Partly cloudy skies. High 93F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Monday night: Partly cloudy skies. Low 74F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
Tuesday (24 hours): Slight chance of a thunderstorm. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 70s.
Wednesday (24 hours): Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 70s.
Thursday (24 hours): Times of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the low 70s.

There you go!

 

Originally posted by The Voice of Reason
...I "play in hurricanes" I even have surfed them, ...

...I am not an idiot,...

hmmm.

...on the note of human tradgedy brought upon by hurricanes, all I can think of is... dont be an idiot.

Like surfing in one?

...if you loose your house dont be upset, it could be called an eventuality. all the $$ damages are just that$$$, who cares....

A home is just $...and you want us to believe that you are not an idiot? What about all of the memories that are in a home? You sound like a young kid who's never owned a home and has no wife and children.

Also, what about seniors, as Jeff mentioned? What about people without the financial wherewithal to move out of 'idiot' land?

BTW, where exactly would you recommend that we all move to, to avoid hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, fire, and hey...why not...asteroids?



Jeff,
Sorry to hear that story. Hope everything's ok now.

 

When I was in college I was out and about with my buddies in Bryan, TX. One of my buddies was a meteorolgy major, and when the horizon turned green he suggested we get indoors. We saw the funnel cloud form in the distance. When we got back to campus we found out that the tornado had touched down in the middle of Olsen Field (the baseball studium). The scary thing is that Olsen is a few hundred yards from the dorm I lived in.

Trust me. You DON'T want to see any of these things. Anybody who says they do are the uninitiated. These are not spectacles. These are very destructive forces that destroy property and take lives. You don't want them to be near you. If you see one...know that you are in the zone of danger.

VOR: Your post was simply appalling.

 

HOLY COW
I cant belive that you guys are freaking out on me.

I want you all to read the origonal post that started this thread off.

"I love freakin storms. Only the ones that harm nobody and just blow by. But i was out playing outside during allison. I wish no ones homes would have been destroyed. Other than that they are soooo cool. I love them, never been in a hurricane are those really strong."

read that and tell me that it in any way implies that he enjoys human suffering. sure he is young, sure he may have annoyed you in other posts, whatever, but if you read what is written there was no reason to jump on him. In my post i was attempting to defend the innocent in a way. if that then makes me a target than so be it.

this is not a raging reply/flame war thing, read this as a calm retort to dissagreement.

Jeff, I generally agree with most things you post on this BBS, you are a generally fair and conciderate person from what I can tell from your posts. I however must disagree with your handeling of this subject. your emotional involvment in hurricane Allison and its affect on your family has apparently tinted your ability to see the whole picture. I posted nothing regarding your grandparents nor did SF, I am sorry they went through that, but it is a fact that Shire happens, and if you want that is different words, nature happens. I used the term eventuality in my post. in 1900, a hurricane rolled through galviston TX killing thousands and literally erasing the whole city. as a resident on the gulf coast you must be aware that there is a chance, even if you are not in a flood plane, and with hgurricanes being sometimes 300 miles wide, you MAY be the recipiant of weather damage. did I say that your grandparents were idiots for living there, no, but the people that build in places like galveston TX, cape hattaras NC, and dune rd Southampron NY are at the least flirting with disaster.
your grandparents apparently built in a reasonably nice place, however they were not safe from the storm. are you gonna fault the storm for doing what they have done for millions of years?? ok, go ahead, hold a grudge. It however was not a problem when storms scoured the earth in the days before we built houses, permanent buildings by the shores.

I say all of this in the spirit of understanding, and well a little debate. Jeff, I know you dont hate weather, but I think you understood SF post, and you thought I was calling your grand parents idiots. I assure you that is not the case. I do feel however if my house gets knocked down this storm season I will be upset, but I will also be in awe and amazement for the power of the storm, the fury that we tiny litte humans can do nothing to stop.

Also, Jeff, by saying to that I should know the facts, I should let you know that the 1900 hurricane of Galviston has the highest death toll in American history. by saying the most destructive tropical weather system you must mean $$$. what does $$$ compare to human life.

Refman- "VOR: Your post was simply appalling."
HOW?? please re-read it, its not personal to anyone, if ones love of weather offends you I am sorry. I see the post telling SF to kill himself by plying a kite in a storm to be appalling if anything.


Cohen- try Context, you must be a political campaign manager.
I said I was not an idiot because I was not a fan of the destruction and all that. thus meaning that If I was a fan of death and destruction I would be an idiot. My intrest for experiencing weather may be a bit unsafe, but many people fear what they do not know. I do not fear Hurricanes. When outside in Hurricane Bob, I decided to come in as the eye wall passed. the winds blasted past the comfortable 80 mph I was enjoying, the rain hurt, so I went in. the wind then hit just over 100, and we began top loose trees. I am not talking about dancing around in Andrews eye wall, I am talking about apreciating the awsome force. I have no intrest in being near a tornado. as far as surfing a hurricane, well that is common practice.
why all the knee jerk reactionism I think this BBS has been getting worse in this manner lately.

I would kill for the ability to be concise. sorry for all the Jabber.
happy storm watching


SOME INFO if you guys are interested. Data compiled up till 2000, so no Allison unfortunately. think it was the #2 costliest though, but that is all skewed due to inflation and such. galviston and its 5000 deaths was by far the most devastating

PEACE

look at who gets hurricanes.
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/Table9.htm
texas and FL are regulars

costliest
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/Table3.htm
costs have risen because we live in much more complicated homes now, and inflation

Deadliest
http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/deadly/Table2.htm
less people die now because we have satalites, and up to a weeks warning

 

I did...twice. It's still appalling. You were saying basically that people are getting what they deserve. OK so you don't savor the losses but you then say that they know what they're getting into and that the monetary losses aren't a big deal. You are either one calloused fella or you simply don't understand that there are many sentimental things in a home that insurance can't replace. If I had to sit there and watch my grandmother cry as 50 years of memories were washed away (like Jeff did) I'd be really angered by the tone of your post. I didn't, and I'm not really angry. I am shocked and appalled.

To somebody who had lost their belongings in the flood...it's personal. I walked downstairs at my apartment complex the day after to see people who had been away the night before (or couldn't get their car to higher ground) trying in futility to start their car with water spraying out the exhaust pipe. It was one of the saddest things I had ever seen.

I took 2 meterology classes in college. I spent a lot of time looking at the weather channel. I love weather. I just don't like storms that bring, invariably, human suffering.

My wife was caught in a flash flood (you know the storms you love so much) as a child. Had she been 2 inches further from her Mom...I never would have met my wife because she would have drowned in flood water as a 7 year old kid.

Agreed. That does not make your post not appalling though. It was a different type of appalling.

 

Originally posted by The Voice of Reason
Cohen- try Context, you must be a political campaign manager.
I said I was not an idiot because I was not a fan of the destruction and all that. thus meaning that If I was a fan of death and destruction I would be an idiot.

Ahhh...but you are not the only one who gets to determine what constitutes idiocy. Surfing in a storm is idiotic, and it's particularly ironic that you warn others not to be idiots by living in nature's path.
And for the record, if you had only made claims to be a storm surfer and not be an idiot, I would probably have let it pass. When you called other people in the storm's path idiots, THATS when I felt like your post deserved a response.

I lived in So Cal for 10 years...it seemed liked some surfers would drown in every storm that brought a decent rip tide.

My intrest for experiencing weather may be a bit unsafe, but many people fear what they do not know.

Give me a break.

Some people don't fear what they don't know. I lived in Houston for 20 years. One neighbor lost their roof to lightning in one storm, the one on the other side lost 4 trees and part of their roof to a twister. I was about 200 yards to a hurricane Allen twister that hit the Austin airport.

You don't get it. I sit on my porch watching lightning storms also, but I have utmost respect for them and what they can do, which you apparently do not. I also have respect for people who suffer from them and empathize with them, I don't blame them for being idiots.

I do not fear Hurricanes.

Reminds me of a story from one storm in the 60's. The hurricane was blowing in, and a group of people decided to have a party in the hurricane's path since they had a home with concrete walls. If I recall, something like 20 people attended the storm party. All they found after the storm was the foundation.


BTW, why didn't you address responses to your comments regarding a home only being about money?

 

Hurricane Camille, Gulfport, Mississippi, 1969. 23 of 24 people died, one girl escaped and told the tale. From the FEMA website:


Mary Ann lived near the Gulf of Mexico in 1969 when Hurricane Camille struck her three-story apartment building. Mary Ann was one of 24 people who didn't leave the Richelieu Apartments when they were warned. When the storm surge hit, the building began to creak and the windows broke out. Water started flooding in and was all over the apartment in a matter of two minutes - and the apartment was on the second floor!

In about five minutes, Mary Ann's bed was floating half way to the ceiling. As the building began to fall apart, Mary Ann floated out of the window and grabbed onto a sofa pillow that came by. She became tangled in wires and debris. It was dark, but Mary Ann saw the building come down all around her. The wind was awful. It reached 234 miles per hour during Hurricane Camille. Mary Ann continued to hold onto anything she could-furniture, tree limbs and parts of houses and buildings. The winds and waves were so strong that every time Mary Ann grabbed hold of something it would be ripped from her hands. She kept getting hit by the wreckage and was bloody from head to toe from the nails in the boards. This went on for 12 hours before Mary Ann was found 4 ½ miles from her house. She was taken to a hospital where she stayed for three weeks.

Today, Mary Ann is grown up. She still lives in Mississippi. She tells her story over and over so people will listen when they're told to evacuate.


Before:


After:


More on the story of Mary Ann.

 

With all due respect, VOR, you do not live here. Honestly, you sound like every typical yankee that has ever discussed hurricanes... uninformed.

 

I don’t think VOR is as quite as good at articulating his thoughts as some of the people who responded to him; therefore his message may not have come across well.

I read his message to mean:

1.) I enjoy observing severe weather occurrences, and to a lesser degree
2.) If you’re house is important to you, don’t build where the weather risk is high

Now, I’m not going to assert that it’s a good idea to play around in floods and high wind, but it’s not like VOR is the only person in the world who “gets off” on severe weather. Actually, it’s not that uncommon. Hell, we probably wouldn’t know as much as we do (and hence, have such a good early alert system) if there weren’t people who weren’t a little bit crazy when it comes to weather.

I can certainly understand why Jeff would be somewhat emotional on this subject considering the circumstances, although his response seemed a little over the top coming from him, but what’s weird to me…..is the pack response from everyone else. It was like throwing meat to a bunch of hungry hyenas. LOOK! The admin has him by the hind-leg, let’s go for the throat!

It’s certainly understandable to disagree with VOR, but the response his post got sure seemed excessive to me….if not just a little bit ridiculous.

 

hurricane alicia destroyed my house...it ripped the roof right off our house ( a twister did, anyway)...we had all kinds of water damage, including in my mom's closet where she lost all the pictures of her wedding and our family pictures...we lived in a hotel for 2 months while they rebuilt and repaired our home.

 

1. Label other people idiots when one's own actions are idiotic;
2. Not only show a lack of empathy for others, but imply that they are idiots since they brought it upon themselves and that they shouldn't really be concerned about losing their home since it's only $$$.

This is a recipe for a strong response. These statements are callous, shallow, and ridiculous. It really has nothing to do with VOR getting excited about storms, it's about his opinions of others. If he had just stated 'I love storms', I doubt there would have been a strong response from anyone.

And as far as the Admin feeding frenzy thing, you are very mistaken. I don't need an Admin to tell me my opinion or to open hunting season. I don't even think of Jeff as an Admin; I respect him for who he is, and the other folks I know in this thread would not have been swayed by an Admin's post.

 

Hey, but you shouldn't fret because VOR says its just $$$, or would it be that you are an idiot since you built in the path of the storm? Which is it, VOR? Or maybe I should ask Pole?


Sorry to use your experience to make a point, MadMax, but I hope that some other can learn empathy through it.

I imagine the loss of the pictures was horrible; sorry to hear about that. I assume all is OK now?

 

Cohen -- no problem...i was kinda using it to illustrate the point as well.


yes...everything is ok now...but it caused a tremendous amount of stress for my parents at the time...a home is more than the amount of money it can be sold for...and when your home is destroyed and you're not real certain where you'll be sleeping the next night...where your kids will be sleeping..it's quite disconcerning. We were fortunate enough to have friends in our neighborhood who helped us out...gave us a place to stay until the remaining storms settled down and we could figure out what to do next...but it was pretty troubling for my parents. i was in 4th grade at the time...my parents still live in that house.

but hurricanes are rough...particularly ones like Gilbert which we were fortunate enough to miss back in the late-80's...sustained winds over 200 mph in a major metropolitan area like Houston would not be pretty. hard to recover from that kind of damage...