How sucky was yesterday? First thing I heard was that a Dallas fireman was killed while fighting a 6-alarm condo fire. DFD rescued 5 people from those burning units. I don't throw around the term "hero" as freely as most do these days, but I think that deceased firefighter deserves that title.
Then there was the absolute disaster in Oklahoma. OMG! From what I saw on TV this one was in a class by itself. I remember driving through Moore, OK about a month after their killer tornado in 1999 and seeing all the devastation yet to be cleaned up. It was soul crushing. Now this.
I woke up in the middle of the night, my mind mentally designing a retrofittable (did I just invent a new word?) steel shelter that could be bolted to a concrete foundation. I mean with J-bolts that would absolutely NOT pull out, and with steel walls that could withstand the flying projectiles that are the real killers of a tornado, and of course the debris that would come down on top of it.
Surely someone has already thought of this. My alma mater (Texas Tech) is the world leader in tornado research; I think I need to check out their website and see what they've come up with. If such a thing is possible and affordable (most of what's available now are expensive and difficult to install), it should IMO be mandated in tornado zones.
If my idea is better than whatever is out there now, I'll patent it (I actually know a patent attorney) and make the plans available free to the public. Honestly though, there are bound to be smarter people than me working in this same direction.
Here's an idea....why not dispense with foreign aid (to countries that hate us anyway) and spend the equivalent on American aid? Like storm shelters?
S
I like both your ideas.
ReplyDelete20 minutes of warning is not much, safe easy access shelters would save lives. Property damage can be replaced but...especially those children!
Stay safe.
They certainly should be mandated in school buildings. There were two previous F4 F5 that followed the same track in the last 15 years. Why wasn't there a shelter in that building? I do love the folks in Okla. but have to ask why.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually a good idea. Let our enemies hate us for free.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that building codes did not change after the 1999 tornado. I understand that you can't be protected from EVERYTHING, but a "safe room" (like your suggested steel shelter) and certain improvements in building new construction hopefully would cut down on some of the loss and casualties.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm just sad. How do you pick up and go on after something like this?