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Tornado

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May 06, 2007 mdaniel link
May 06, 2007 Cunjo link
This is why I don't live in Kansas.
May 06, 2007 nycblkboy link
This is so sad. Noone should live in Kansas. Haven't they seen the Wiz of Oz?
May 06, 2007 mdaniel link
Maybe they should rebuild the houses not using cardboard, plywood and paper shingles. Some good old steel, brick and concrete should help.
May 06, 2007 Cunjo link
Bunkers are expensive. More expensive than an insurance policy that will cover that.
May 06, 2007 moldyman link
Bricks and the like could be destroyed as well, provided the winds had other bricks to throw against them. No, cardboard is the way to go when one lives in a high danger zone. Look at older japanese construction. All wood and paper.
May 06, 2007 toshiro link
You seem to be forgetting that the major danger in Japan are earthquakes.

Clearly, the only course of action against tornadoes is to outlaw them and slap a fine on each that is perceived to harm more than 2,35 houses in the same week. Once tornadoes have to pay cash for the destruction they cause, the'll soon stop hulllabalooing and going on general rampages mighty quick, I assure you.
May 06, 2007 mgl_mouser link
Imagine the number of towns like this one that could be rebuilt with a fraction of what's being wasted on Haliburton.

And in the same line of thought as the above, they could also afford a "No Spinners" at town entry points.
May 07, 2007 Millenium Blackhawk link
lol toshiro, are you sure your not from Massachusetts?

Just heard... The National Guard and equipment needed to rebuild the town are in Iraq. Damn.
May 07, 2007 LeberMac link
Imagine the number of towns like this one that could be rebuilt with a fraction of what's being wasted on New Orleans.
May 07, 2007 upper case link
has any money actually reached new orleans?
May 07, 2007 MSKanaka link
The money that Leber is referring to as "being wasted" is being spent to get the money for rebuilding New Orleans into New Orleans.
May 07, 2007 LeberMac link
Actually I think a good portion of it was spent handing out "free money" to anyone who had the smallest piece of evidence that they owned property in the flooded areas of New Orleans. Free money, no questions asked, whether you had insurance or not. Quite the payday.

Nevermind the assistance for meals, hotels, etc. Most of that money went into other things, most likely.

I understand that it was a disaster, and it's good to help people rebuild. However throwing money at the problem without any accounting of who's spending it and what it's going for is just... stupid.

Makes me feel worse for the victims of this tornado in Kansas, who will most likely not receive anywhere near the level of support from the Federal Government.
May 07, 2007 MSKanaka link
Well, Kansas is right in the middle of Tornado Alley... so on the one hand, if you choose to live there, you've put yourself into this situation and quite frankly, shit happens, and you have to deal with it.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure most insurance companies in the area DO cover tornado damage...

... don't they?
May 07, 2007 nycblkboy link
They should cover it. But some people probably didn't get tornado insurance, to expensive or they didn't think it was going to happen.
May 07, 2007 LeberMac link
If I lived in Kansas I'd make DAMN sure I had insurance cover things like wind damage or tornado damage.

Same as if I lived in New Orleans I'd have made DAMN sure I had flood, hurricane, sump & septic/sewer riders on my policy.

I know insurance companies suck, but not getting it is your own decision. Is it the federal government's job to grant money to people who are too poor/too stupid to have their own insurance?
May 07, 2007 moldyman link
Ain't in Kansas no more.... no more...
May 07, 2007 look... no hands link
looks like the place was hit with a low yeild high elevation tac nuke
May 08, 2007 MSKanaka link
There'd be more burn marks if that had been the case, I think.
May 09, 2007 break19 link
Oh brother.. c'mon people.. why are we talking about New Orleans here? I live two hours from there.. the destruction that city received was -nothing- compared to the destruction that the ENTIRE MS GULF COAST received.. Gulfport? all but destroyed.. Biloxi? same. Pass Christian? erased from the map. Bay St. Louis? again.. erased..

These towns had 90-95% of their entire infrastructure wiped away... not to mention all the residents' homes that were erased from existance... Yet.. they've been busy rebuilding instead of busy begging for more money..

The money for the people in New Orleans is there.. but their lovely Mayor Chocolate(D) isn't getting the paperwork filled out correctly. The wonderful democrat governor of the state also isn't making sure it all goes well, and instead of making accusations about this and that, maybe if either of them got off their fat behinds and making all this noise, and actually got busy, ya know.. WORKING.. New Orleans wouldnt be in such a bad place.

I live on the gulf coast in AL.. my house was destroyed.. we were renting. The landowner had all the required insurance, but the policy was cancelled within 3 weeks of the hurricane making landfall because she'd forgotten to mail a single payment.. ONE PAYMENT BEHIND and they pulled it, and because it was hurricane season, she couldn't get it re-established.

Guess what I did? I didn't go stand in line somewhere with my hands out begging.. I didn't go crying to the newspaper. I GOT OFF MY ASS. I WORKED EVEN HARDER.

I am living, now, in a 3br/2ba brick home which I am the mortgage holder for.. I paid nearly twice as much for it, as I would have BEFORE the storm hit..

Quit begging and go work. There's plenty of work to be done. Maybe it's construction work, but so what? It's still a paycheck, just get off your ass and do something.

Now to the topic at hand.. I've been to KS, beautiful place to visit, wouldn't want to live there.. But I'm sure most people did have insurance, there were likely a few idiots that didn't, but it's nobody's fault but their own. Can't afford it? get another job. As far as using steel and concrete for housing goes.. steel and concrete vs wind? right.. wood flexes and bends and gives a little with the wind.. steel doesnt.. concrete doesnt.. Another issue.. insulation.. steel and concrete both absorb sunlight and generate heat much more quickly than does wood, so the insulation would have to be much more effective, not to mention the cooling and heating system.

If you haven't noticed, there aren't too many shady trees in KS blocking the sunlight. Those concrete and steel homes would get awfully hot, awfully quickly.

The last point of wood vs concrete+steel. Cost.. plain and simple. Not sure about up in KS, but down where I live.. the avg construction price for a 2000sq ft home with basic wooden frame and brick exterior is about 90k (thats just the house, no land). Building a similar home out of a steel frame, with brick exterior is about 150k(again, just the house, no land) so nearly double the price.