XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.usa, soc.culture.usa   
   XPost: alt.politics.republicans   
   From: 186282@ud0s4.net   
      
   Looks like the worst wind damage was not in   
   Florida but just across the border in   
   Valdosta GA - which took a direct hit.   
      
   Valdosta is a nice town with a long history.   
   Alas part of that history involves many   
   of those old 1930s+ un-reinforced brickwork   
   buildings. A number of those just CAVED IN   
   from the winds. Brickwork has good compression   
   strength but CANNOT withstand lateral forces.   
      
   Valdosta was NOT entirely prepared according to   
   some interviewed residents/officials. The storm   
   core was expected to pass a bit to the west,   
   but jogged east at the last minute. Even thus,   
   that doesn't make up for the construction NOT   
   set up for strong hurricanes.   
      
   Beyond Valdosta - IMPRESSIVE flooding from just   
   east of Atlanta and on up. Ashville NC is now   
   kinda unreachable - what few roads/bridges did   
   NOT wash out are now blocked. You'll likely   
   need a chopper to get there.   
      
   This picture repeated across both Carolinas and   
   even into areas of Tennessee. They were already   
   flooded and Helene dumped another foot+ on top   
   of that PLUS tropical-storm winds. The thing   
   moved SO fast it hung on kinda intact for hundreds   
   of miles inland. BIG storm.   
      
   Weather people suspect ANOTHER storm forming   
   in the exact same area just south of Mexico.   
   Florida again, LA, TX ???   
      
   As for Florida, the extreme WIND did a fair   
   amount of damage but the STORM SURGE along   
   the coast did even MORE. Record levels,   
   just washed-away/ruined most everything,   
   even houses on 10' stilts. No, you CAN'T   
   get/afford insurance in those areas.   
      
   The only GOOD thing for Florida, Valdosta   
   too, is that the storm was moving QUICKLY.   
   Slow-moving storms get to stress everything   
   for much LONGER. Even strong structures   
   eventually give in. I was IN one of those   
   slow - like ALL NIGHT EYE-WALL - big storms.   
   Unrooted everything, not even any leaves left   
   on the trees. Extreme.   
      
   Looks like cat-4/5 construction specs are gonna   
   be needed. We saw this after Andrew down south   
   of Miami. Gonna have to be the same for ALL   
   of Florida AND southern Georgia for sure.   
      
   NOT sure if LA/MS/AL/TX have implemented such   
   but they damned better SHOULD. New homes and   
   biz need to be kinda like pill-boxes - twice   
   the concrete and steel. Emergency drainage must   
   be improved. The trend for strong storms has   
   arrived again so we MUST cope.   
      
   THEN they'll kinda go away again for awhile and   
   BET standards will deteriorate ... human nature.   
   People kinda only remember the past 20 years at   
   best. The old "I remember ..." people will be   
   shit on.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)