So, how was your night?

Oh No , thats awful Becky, Im glad you are your family are safe.

Take care

Dawn

Holy crap Becky - that was close. As a structural engineer I have seen enough wind and earthquake damage to estimate wind speed. It would have had to be tornado force winds to do damage like that. I'm very glad that the damage was "only" to the property and not to you or your family.

Gorgeous property by the way. What lovely views.

Kathleen

your house is made of wood?!?!? How American!!!

Isnt that a bit of a fire risk?!?!??

It is a pretty place when it doesn't look like a tornado went through. LOL I'm still freaked out every time I look outside. There's no doubt there were two separate systems because if the one had been wide enough to do the damage it would have completely flattened the old house and Val's house. From the trail of destruction, it looks like there was one larger one that caused the primary damge then a smaller one spun off of it and went toward the pond. The way the land is layed out, both of them went toward ponds in different areas.

If anyone is ever in a tornado warning, remember it's very important to crack or open your windows. It provides a way for the wind to blow through your house rather than causing so much pressure that your house would implode.

No, my house is made of brick. The house that was built in the 1920's is made of wood. I would have thought it was pretty obvious that the wooden house hadn't been occupied in years.

Becky

That's what I always wonder about too. Sure I understand the reasons for building houses like that as it's much more cost effective and they can be constructed in a very short time period, but they aren't strong.

Most houses here are built from brick, although new pre-fab houses seem to use as little material as possible, and I bet they'd stand up to extreme weather better. Sure windows would still break and tiles would come off roofs but it would take quite a force to knock down a solid brick wall, especially a double leaf brick wall.

Well Becks my dear, from the view we get of yanks that live in the south of America I wouldnt be suprised if you did live in that old house

I am really glad you're fine Becky. I hate tornadoes, but find them strangely fascinating too.

My English friends, are the houses there mostly brick as well? Here in Western Canada, not really. Mostly are wood framed. Down east, I saw mainly brick houses, due to the humidity. We get tornadoes here too, but they tend to stay away from my city. Except in 1987 when we had an F5.

Ours are mostly brick yes. My house is probably 70+ years old and wheras we don't get strong weather like hurricans or tornados they show little damage from years of constant weathering, lol.

A lot of new houses are built from minimal materials, obviously a cost cutting thing, so they probably won't last as well, but overall they stay up, lol.

If that's all you have to go on, then I'll extend an invitation to you: I'll show you around the South so you'll get an idea of what it's actually like instead of having to cling to such stereotypical nonsense.

Becky