Tropical Cyclone downunder

Here is a before & after, note the timber work has been water blasted....what a mess.

I have a great 11 second movie, but it's too big to upload, I've tried to load it onto photo bucket but that didn't work either, any ideas? It really shows the ferocity of the evil bloody thing....would love to share it

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Garden.jpg
 
Also we had no power (mains) for 12 days / 11 nights, so for those who have to go through this remember, love your generator just as much as your XS 650...:)
 
WOW - that looks really rough Mick. Were many people injured?

BTW - I think you could upload the video to YouTube couldn't you? (not that I know how to do that of course, but I'm sure that most people under 15 can do it)
 
I did, and woke the missus and got an earful for it.

How the heck did your roof stay on - especially over your big porch?
 
2 tonne tie down like a come along but rated. Used it to strap the truss to the post directly underneath

Don't worry about the earful, I am sure you will be reminded again :laughing:
 
Building codes in North Queensland are very strict and you really have to be in the building industry to appreciate what goes into these houses. A pitched, or open roof, is less likely to disintegrate and as long as the iron and roof battens, especially around the corner area, are built properly the edges should not lift, these codes are designed to withstand a high Category 5 cyclone.

A lot of house damage is caused when the pressure is not equalized in the roof of a truss built house, the attic. This is usually done by having some vents in the eves or on the face of of the gable ends. A lot of people think the house gets blown away with the wind but it is the Vacuum in the roof the causes a roof to lift off and when one of these hit it is imperative to open some windows on the leeward side of the house.
 
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So true Skull, acting like a wing with pressure differential over the top and below creating lift, similar to how sails work your actually sucked along as opposed to being blown along as many think. The building codes are working that's for sure, most damage was to older homes, superficial damage to most existing structures.
Damage, some minor cracks in the outside structure, front doors (timber) were totaled, consertina doors were flogged out, down pipes blown away, water ingress into timber floor, outside was blasted and the coating was removed by the blasting water....
1 death prior to cyclone just up the road where a tourist fleeing crashed into another vehicle, probably more injured post cyclone. Some people did stupid shit during and after, like I said before booze and cyclones don't mix, you need all your facilities about yourself to preserve life during such a blast.

Mick
 
You guys coped it hard..........When Yasi went over us it was done and dusted in about 6 hours. Good to see there was no structural damage although as you say the water does a lot that is not seen.
 
Smart use of the building codes.
I'm glad you came out of it in one piece.

This is what happens when builders cut corners:

Bolivar-Ike-2008.jpg


Bolivar Peninsula, Texas, hurricane Ike 2008
 
2many, Ike rolled through here in the Ohio Valley after he had dropped all his water on the way. I've been through hurricanes back in South Jersey but a hurricane with no rain was quite interesting. Trees blown down, roofs torn off and no rain. Bizarre.
 
Wow.................those are scary videos! I can easily see why they have very strict building codes in your area.
No cyclones here in my area of Canada, but we do have the odd tornado, and a rare flood has flooded all of downtown Calgary.
The main thing is that most people are safe.
 
Yes, much of our Gulf Coast seashore is low, flat, featureless, virtually no protection. Tidal surge, straight-line winds, hurricanes are taken seriously here. Much of that peninsula was simply wiped from the map.

So, I gotta tell ya, Mick, I was pretty worried when I saw Cyclone Debbie's track aimed right at you. And, extremely relieved that you came out of it as well as you did...
 

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