Explanation

[CREWZIN]

Hear I am sitting reading this morning's local paper with pictures on the front page of what's left of a town in southern Florida called Punta Gorda. What a mess. They said the winds reached 140mph. A whole section of town with manufactured homes was wiped out. Piles of rubble and single walls stand where the houses once were, but it looks like most of the houses are still right there, although they are in a million pieces. My question for anyone in the know...if that's were the hurricane went thru with 140mph winds, why is there still the pile of destruction right where the home used to be? Why wasn't it all blown 100 miles away? It just looks like a giant came along and stepped on each house. Please, this is no means meant to be funny, so no wise cracks. These people lost everything they own and my prayers go out to them. I'm just curious as to why it looks like it does.

[Mike-in-Orange]

I don't have an answer for you, Crewzin, as I've often wondered about this sort of thing myself, even with tornados in the midwest. It sounds logical that if the wind was strong enough to demolish the building that it would also be strong enough to blow away the remaining debris, yet it doesn't seem to do so. Yes, you often do see things like cars being picked up and deposited some distance from where they originally sat, but for the most part you just end up with a big pile of debris. Very strange.

[Charc]

One reason is that if wind can't get under an object like a piece of ply wood laid on the grass, the wind can't get under it to pick it up, you know how a wing works on an air plane the wind under the wing is going faster than the wind above in which causes lift. That's one of the reasons why most of the stuff is still left on the ground intact. Also you know if you don't boarder up ur house when a big storm hits ur roof will be blown off. See the preasure outside the house is higher than inside if given a chance like a broken window the preasure outside will burst inside causeing the house to inflate like blowing a balloon up then it gets to a point that it bursts so either the windows go first or the roof or the whole house will explode. Well that's all the info I have. I hope that helps a bit.

[CREWZIN]

Thanks...it does offer some explanation but you would think that if the house blew up from pressure inside from a broken window, it would blow up/out into the wind and be carried away. Although I can see if the roof blows away and everything else collapses upon itself, then the wind can't get under it to blow it away...as you said, and that's why some houses are almost completely gone while others are a pile of rubble.

[Jimbo]

I remember when a big tornato went thru Omaha. The house
where my sister lived was untouched,but the houses on both
sides of her were gone.Her car that was in her driveway
was in the same spot where she left it, but it must have been
picked up and droped as the shocks and springs were all
broke.It's just strange how things happen.

[2sb]

Maybe the pile of rubble is from another house down the street? Or, as the house collapses/explodes, for a very brief time the wind blows outwards in all directions instead of just straight. These and things that don't collapse are always creating changing eddies down by the ground so there isn't pure wind flow.

Charc's answer is good but backwards. The higher the wind, the less the pressure (Bernoulli effect). The curved upper surface of a plane's wing means the air has farther to go/moves faster/lower pressure/lift. The house explodes because there is less pressure on the outside. Of course this is based on Fluid Theory (liquid and gas) and does not include any effects from the compressibility of air. A bad weather system is always indicated by a low pressure area.

[cook]

Good question.
When we were hit by a tornado 2 months ago,all my debris got caught on the next house,and etc...
the big grin kept his head down

[turbomangt]

We have friends in Punta Gorda, sent them an e mail no answer as of yet. Hope they are ok, sad tragidy.

[Hooligan]

Gary, with much of electrical power down as well as cell phone towers out you probably won't hear from them for a while, hopefully they are all right.

As I live in Florida, we see much more of the damage on TV than most people do. It is VERY hard to imagine the devastation that has been visited upon those who were hardest hit. In my area (Merritt Island) we get the Orlando TV stations who are saying some areas that were hard hit will NOT have electricity for another week. Long lines (1/2 hour or more) waits for gasoline, some stations that have gas, have no power and visa-versa.

The National Guard has been activated and are over on the West Coast handing out bottled water, peanut butter, bread, ice (most food in fridges & freezers have been thrown out because of spoilage) etc. Unbelievable mess. Iraq has nothing on the areas of Florida that was hit by Charley, other that no onw is getting shot at!!!

[JPMS GT]

Hooligan, my friend, you have a way with words! I talked to my parents in Port St Luci and they missed the whole thing, and at 92 that is just fine with them. I'm trying to divert a business trip to Europe through FL to see if I can't do some volenteer work or something to help out. You folks hang in there. God speed.