Hurricane Irma caught residents ‘off guard’
Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane has been recorded as the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Caribbean.
"It was the most terrifying moment in my life"
In an interview with a resident who wished to remain anonymous, told our news reporter that she has never experienced anything like this before.
"It was the most terrifying moment in my life that I will never forget it. Honestly, I underestimated Irma and because of that I was not fully prepared," adding that she watched everybody preparing and thought it was not going to be such a serious hurricane.
The horrified resident explained that she, her boyfriend and her roommate had to seek refuge in the bathroom tub during the passing of hurricane Irma.
"We all had to hold on to the shower curtain for dear life because after the roof flew off, we thought that was going to be it for us," noting that they were in the tub for over four hours wishing and praying that the hurricane would come to an end.
She further stated that when the hurricane subsided, they all grabbed their valuables and took refuge in a neighbour's apartment until hurricane Irma was over.
"When it was finally over and I saw everything wet and broken but I was alive, I fell to my knees and cried," she said, adding that she is thankful that she survived.
Hurricane Irma caught East End resident "off guard"
Speaking with another resident from East End who wished not to be named disclosed to our news reporter that this hurricane caught him "off guard" because he was very optimistic that it would have dissipated.
He explained that he lives on the third floor of his apartment and knowing what he knew about hurricane based on his last experience, he stated that he opened all of his windows with the intention that the breeze would blow through the house.
"I fell asleep at some point, only to be awaken by a loud bang and I jumped up and looked through the window and saw that half of my roof was in my neighbour's yard."
After he saw what had happen he stated that he ran to gather important documents and horridly seek refuge in his friend's apartment until the hurricane was over.
Following the passing of hurricane Irma, the East End resident admitted that after seeing the aftermath of what a 220 mph winds did, he said, “I don’t think I would ever be caught off guard again. I will be one person that will take hurricane warning very, very serious.”
.png)
Follow Us On
9 Responses to “Hurricane Irma caught residents ‘off guard’”
Moreover, roof design and construction are a critical factors in reducing damages to building from high winds. Particularly, focus needs to be placed on how rafters, trusses......etc are anchored to bond beam and ridge; focus must be placed on roof edges and corners. Roofs must be designed to resist uplift forces. Winds flowing over a roof surface creates negative pressure on the too and positive pressure below, resulting in an uplifting force,i.e., a pulling (lifting) from the top and pushing on the bottom. This process is similar to airplane lift. Avoiding roofs lifting off is critical to reducing damages. A lost roof increases the level of damages in a building.
Secondly, windows and other openings must be designed and constructed to resist wind damage and to avoid wind-borne debris from breaking the windows. Once wind gets inside, the pressure increases and causes the roof to lift off. Insatlling shutters or covering windows/doors with plywood helps to resist wind and prevent damages to windows.
Thirdly, a building must have a continuous load path, i.e., all paths from the roof to the walls and to the foundation must be connected together. A broken load path results in roof lifting off; further, puncturing a hole in a roof, i.e., wind-borne debris can also result in a roof lifting off. Typically, roofs are not blown off but rather lift off.
Though preparing, i.e., covering windows, dooors, ......etc., securing loose debris that could become projectiles, .....etc may not totally prevent damages, it will prevent and limit damages.