08-24-2014, 05:13 AM
quote:My point was that the picture was chosen to give the impression that raging waves higher than houses were representative of the situation. It is a natural human tendency and a cool picture, but it does not accurately depict the situation.
Originally posted by TomK
Agreed, Leilanidude, just wanted to point out that it's not storm surge just so people don't get the wrong idea.
Also other pictures that are much less dramatic have subtle clues. I do think that a house built only a few feet above sea level should have been tied down so that it wouldn't just casually float away intact. Granted it would have been damaged anyway but proper construction would at least have made it less likely to float over and take out the neighbor's house. Of course we'll never know but it really does appear to me that if such a house had been built on poured concrete piers 8' high it would have survived given that as it is most of the house did survive despite being pushed off the foundation.
I am pondering human perceptions. In the video I watched the owner and reporter seemed more impressed with the severity of the damage and by extension the strength of the storm because the whole house had been moved than they would if the house had been unrecognizable. To me it just means that there was a particular weakness.