Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida with unprecedented speed and strength, and residents are slowly evacuating the Tampa Bay area amid a warning from Mayor Jane Castor that those who stay will die

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    No idea how tornadoes get downplayed, sometimes not even mentioned. After Hurricane Ivan, it was obvious, to this Okie anyway, where tornadoes hit. I think people just chalked that destruction up to general hurricane damage.

    They don’t leave long swaths of destruction like “normal” tornadoes. They touch down, tear maybe a couple of hundred meters and they get shredded by the winds. But there are a lot of them.

    I saw a couple or three footballs fields of perfectly flattened forest, in spots all over the region. No, the hurricane winds didn’t do that. You can still see these flat places from Michael’s tornadoes (2018).

    There was a billboard smashed to the ground by my house, walked up and touched it in wonder. Four heavy, steel I-beams twisted at the base and the sign flat to the ground. Like god reached down and gave it a twist. Hurricane winds alone cannot do that.

    Spent 6 hours hammering Keystones and looking out the front and back porch screens. Fuck I was scared, first hurricane, and worst for me so far. All you hear is that tornado sound, freight trains. Horrifying when they hit at night because you can’t tell if it’s the “normal” wind or if a tornado is about to smash you flat.

    People don’t understand that even if your home is mostly safe, tornadoes pop all over and no home is withstanding a direct hit. And you won’t, can’t, see it coming.

    • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I am terrified of tornadoes and I have never even seen one in person. So glad I live in the most likely place to die from a massive earthquake instead.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        And I’ve never experienced an earthquake. I’ve read that it’s horrifying having the very ground move beneath you, and the sounds

        Guess it’s like everything else in life, terrifying until you experience it, then, maybe not so bad.

        First time I saw my poodle get a catheter…

        “THEY DO THAT TO BOYS?!”

        (Hurts like hell for 3 seconds, over. Very nice to lay in bed and piss yourself when your guts have been opened and you can’t move.)

      • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        Lul fuck if you’re not right. I’m in the same boat and at least I can pretend they built all the buildings here up tk code for earthquakes so we should be fine for the most part but I many if any building could survive a 9 or higher quake, that’s foundation shifting territory.