1 minute ago, Matthew Kane said:

It is the same in New Zealand, the resent storm that hit Houston when you look at the numbers we get 3 to 4 storms of exactly that same size every year. For us a storm that size we would still go to work even when winds are up to 70 to 80 mph. We are designed to withstand winds, rain and earthquakes, but also everything in New Zealand is double to triple the price compared to other places to maintain standards. 

Yes. stronger is better.  Homes built in the US are not that strong, a high wind will damage them. Most homes are just wood and stucco. With nothing strong to hold up the walls.  The developers market the homes and you just have to take risks living in them.  They creak and wobble as soon as you move into them.  You have to build with brick, but we don't have that in Arizona.  The off side is earthquakes, timber homes bolted to the foundation tend to ride out earthquakes better than brick or stone.  Arizona doesn't have many earthquakes, but we have felt the big ones, after the day my daughter was born there was a big earthquake in California which we felt strongly in Phoenix.  I was at the hospital with my wife when the earthquake hit.  The nurses were ready to run but I told them to stay put, they had never experienced an earthquake

http://www.cnn.com/US/9910/17/california.quake/

 

Mother Nature at her strongest, we have to be wise where we live.

What really bites, I booked a vacation there earlier in the year for December. I know Maho Beach is gone, the Sunset Grill is gone and I don't even know if my hotel on the French side is still standing.

It's actually quite depressing. I have been there once before, I am going for 3 weeks to celebrate my birthday with my family. This was 3 years in the planning.

I am optimistic that by December, if Jose misses, that there should be some semblance of the Sint Maarten life, but it won't be 100% the way it was for a long time.

aerial view of the airport after the storm: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/7/16267826/hurricane-irma-2017-florida-miami-dade-broward-keys-georgia-carolina-meteorology

A little late but I checked the ATIS for the airport at 11:20 on 6 September. Quite frankly it's horrendous...

TNCM 061121Z 0612/0712 300120G140KT 1SM +RA BKN015 OVC030

I guess my parents house must be underwater by now, they have a house in Naples, Florida but they are not there at the moment so no idea what is happening with it. 

There will be a long void while the hurricane moves up the coast, if the eye stays over the water those NE of it will have heavy wind and storm surge.  If the eye comes over land there will be some relief.  I haven't looked at the track recently.

John

The eye was over Naples last I checked but now moved north of Naples towards Tampa, it is tracking right along the gulf coastline

Apparently my dad is up in Alabama for now, far enough north

I'll bet those intellectual lightweights who loudly crowed that "Irma is Fake News" are feeling a bit silly about now...

Let us never forget that Nature is a Mother.. 

In 1980 I was golfing with my father in the Napa Valley, which historically does not see bad weather.  We started the first nine holes, it was clear out, and our game went along.  The golf course was Little Knoll, now owned by a hollywood movie producer.  As we came close to winding up the first nine holes, I noticed the clouds started building up out of nowhere.  Cumulus clouds just materialized, then turned into Cumulo Nimbus clouds.  Then I heard thunder in the distance.

As we were setting up for round two, I heard the sound of a freight train.  My brain went into overdrive as I realized there were no train tracks nearby.  My father stayed on the first tee while I made a move to get indoors.   Suddenly I could not see anything, it felt like the wind was holding me in a straight jacket from all sides.  What was probably 30 seconds seemed like an eternity.  Then it passed.  I looked around and found 100 foot tall pine trees uprooted, roof tiles torn off.  We were hit with an F1 Tornado, extremely rare for California.  I went into the Pro Shop to tell them what had happened, I told them that I was from the midwest and that they had been hit by a Tornado.

After the strike my father and I mulled things over for a few minutes then we decided what the heck, we will play out our round.  We were the only people left on the course.  You could not putt because twigs and small bits of debris covered the greens on some holes where the Tornado went over.  It was a surreal experience, one of many adventures I had with my wonderful father.  Mother nature at her mightiest looked the other way and kept us safe that day, and I did not end up like Dorothy getting sucked up to great heights.  My father told me later that had I stayed with him, I would not have gone thru the experience of the funnel passing over.

John

I was aboard a cargo ship in the Pacific off Mexico (1961 ?) en route to Long Beach in which we spent some time in a hurricane - it was later revealed that some 12000 had died in the area because of that one.

I have never been so terrified - I was clinging on to the bridge some 30' above the sea and yet the tops of the waves were some 40 feet above me at times - a scary experience.

What I particularly recall, though, is the noise. Can't imagine what the noise levels would be ashore, but the noise was so loud, it hurt ! There is literally no escape from it.

All you can do is steer into the wind, and although I was well past being seasick after a few years at sea, the severe pitching of the ship takes some getting used to - it gave me a violent headache which lasted for days.

Not a very pleasant experience.

There are a few good HD clips on youtube showing severe weather, and they bring back memories...

Regards
Bill