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Battered homes to be demolished
Some of the homes hit the tornado which swept through north-west London will have to be demolished while others remain too dangerous to enter.
[news.bbc.co.uk...]
Does London have a warning system in place so people can at least take shelter when a tornado does happen to come along?
Does London have a warning system in place
Problem being tornados just dont happen in the UK, well as this proves they do, but I can only remember one instance where it has happened on this scale in the past.
The world is changing and I guess this will be part of the future.
Mack.
Does London have a warning system in place so people can at least take shelter when a tornado does happen to come along?
Haha. Good one!
Do people in the sahara have a warning system in case a blizzard strikes?
Most of course occur in empty fields and go largely unnoticed.
Every once in a while, one is going to hit a major city. It happened in Birmingham last year, this year London with more damage.
The UK doesn't really need a warning system, it is still a very unlikely event. In addition the UK also has a housing and building system that exceeds most of the World. (Including 95% of the USA).
Still, if a tornado should strike you, are you less likely to get killed in a traditional brick/brick or brick/concrete home in a typical UK house than a wooden or mobile structure used commonly in the Mid-West of the USA!
My question would be why UK houses (especially older ones) are constructed so much better than those in high Tornado/Hurricane target areas?......Price....Maybe?
I've seen firsthand the damage caused by a full-force Oklahoma tornado though. A direct hit from an F5 will pretty much destroy most any home. You need a basement or storm cellar.
I guess if tornadoes just don't happen very often, the need for a warning system doesn't seem very clear. But to a lifetime resident of the American Midwest, where tornadoes are a fact of life, a tornado warning system is mighty nice. Our National Weather Service can usually give more than 15 minutes of warning time before a tornado strikes, and most people around here take the warnings seriously.
I can remember "supercell" storms that generated over 40 tornadoes in just a couple hours right within a very small area. I've been through at least one tornado personally, have been *very* close to several others, and have been through countless tornado-damaged areas. Seeing this [crh.noaa.gov] kind [crh.noaa.gov] of [crh.noaa.gov] damage [crh.noaa.gov] first-hand (which I did) tends to make one respect a warning when it's issued! ;)
Also, I'd never criticize the Londoners for reacting the way they are to this tornado - after all, this is the city that survived the Blitz - but a tornado as weak as that one would hardly even make local news around here. To me, that indicated that they're pretty vulnerable to tornadoes, so I just wondered if they might not find a warning system appropriate.
but a tornado as weak as that one would hardly even make local news around here.
What if it happened in New York or Boston? ;)
a tornado as weak as that one would hardly even make local news around here. To me, that indicated that they're pretty vulnerable to tornadoes, so I just wondered if they might not find a warning system appropriate.
It was newsworthy because it's so rare.
Imagine you had a small earthquake where you live. (Sounds like a gunshot, nothing happens.)
Then imagine someone from Japan spluttering into their Miso Soup when they heard it got reported on your local news.
If you can donate us a warning system, I'm sure it will come in very useful in about fifty years time. Thanks.
