project 1951 Pontiac Chieftain

[2flags]

And I suppose the broker turned round and said, 'sorry we cocked it up, but there's nothing we, or you, can do.' And they are right, there is nothing you can do. If you did rebuild, would it have to be a brick structure to withstand tornados, or would that also be a forlorn hope?

[somewhatfoolish]

It's a tough job designing things to be hurricane- or tornado-proof without them just being bunkers and costing unrealistic amounts. $50k+ seems ridiculous though, delivering and erecting a portal frame of something about the same size would be maybe £20k in the UK, I'd imagine it could be done for less in the US.

[PhilA]

Yeah, a barn can be a barn (which is in essence what this was). 

If a tornado hits there's not much that you can do if it is more than an F0 really.

That's what this was. It lifted the roof off which is why the structure then collapsed in.

Tornadoes are weird though. The roof joists, seasoned 50+ year old oak 4x10 beams laying on the floor splintered and snapped like toothpicks, and in amongst that carnage an unbroken fluorescent tube.

South of here a house was leveled by one, the only thing standing was half of one wall and the chinmey stack- sitting on the mantle piece were the 52 playing cards the inhabitants put there the night before they evacuated...

[hairnet]

has phil got a santa hat?

has the car?

will d and d have turkey po boys?

[PhilA]

15 hours ago, hairnet said:

has phil got a santa hat?

has the car?

will d and d have turkey po boys?

No

Yes

No, they're closed until the new year

[hairnet]

next stacklight for mrs @PhilA 

   

 

[DSdriver]

What about digging a swimming pool sized hole in the ground, with a ramp down to it, and a flat roof over it?

[captain_70s]

I reckon in Louisiana that'd stay as a swimming pool regardless of if you wanted it to or not...

[DSdriver]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

I reckon in Louisiana that'd stay as a swimming pool regardless of if you wanted it to or not...

Same as where I live then, our house isn't called Spring Cottage because of the season. 🙃 

[PhilA]

Southeast Louisiana, here yeah. 

(For scale, "home" to the O of New Orleans is about 36 miles in a straight line) 

The entirety of the land on that map rarely exceeds 5 feet above sea level, the mean average being closer to 2.

The lighter green of the map represents wetter ground. This whole area is runoff from the Mississippi (the squiggle that goes from Laplace on the image, through New Orleans, Belle Chasse) and the tributaries that spur off (I live on one, it follows the line of highway 1, mostly- that's the nomenclature also. A "bayou" is a tributary of the main river within the delta).

The Mississippi makes a lot of rivers look like someone just pissed on the ground and called it a waterway. At 2340 miles long, it carries a lot of water from up north, with annual peak flow in spring as the snow melts and wants somewhere to go. 

So yeah, around here digging down isn't an option. Heck, even the graves are above ground because you can't dig down...

[PhilA]

Chilly morning here just on freezing. 

Cloud machine, engage. Went get coffee.

Heater still works well athough I think the thermostat isn't fully sealing any more because it only got up to about 160F on the gauge. I didn't fit the regulation cardboard in front of the radiator. 

 

Phil

[PhilA]

Fuel gauge appears to be working now after a two week soak with solvents in the tank. 

Cold again. Took a few minutes for all cylinders to join the party this morning.