Front of building falls of in N.Y. because of "Sandy".

Hi.

I heard about this earlier and found a youtube video that somebody posted.

I'm not sure why the firefighters were at the location. It looks like there is caution tape in front of the building.



The tweet I read said there were no injuries reported so at least that's good.

I'm awful glad someone didn't get too drunk in the 3rd or 4th floor rooms and take a header right into the exterior wall. I wonder if it would have stopped them or just given them debris to ride down to the street?

It reminds me of a temp job I had in Texas about a thousand years ago when I was 18. Half a building fell into the neighboring parking lot during a major wind storm. No reason...no logic..just brick that had not been reinforced to modern codes and the pressure differential between the rooms inside and the low pressure caused by the wind outside. It literally sucked the wall right over and pancaked a row of cars. No one hurt... Storms are certainly no joke, even if they seem like nothing special. Someone under that wall wouldn't have known the difference between this and Hurricane Andrew.

All I have to say is, yikes, here are a few updates that I have just seen on CBCNews National. They report that the winds from Sandy could be felt 1000km away.

Toronto woman dies after being hit by sign in high winds as Sandy approaches




Sea Water Floods Ground Zero, NYC

reply to post by TheSparrowSings


Those who are inexperienced can't resist to venture outside and take a peek. In Florida we start curfews to help with this but there are those who still go out , then we end up trying to peel them out of power lines or trees.

Flying objects come from no where, take you out like a gunshot.

I hate to be the one to ask....but how long does it take for Sea Water to totally destroy metal for all useful purposes, if it's not treated specifically to resist it? I've heard Navy guys say a gun going over the side, even at the pier, is worthless in a shockingly short period of time spent in ocean water?

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I hate to be the one to ask....but how long does it take for Sea Water to totally destroy metal for all useful purposes, if it's not treated specifically to resist it? I've heard Navy guys say a gun going over the side, even at the pier, is worthless in a shockingly short period of time spent in ocean water?

Since rust is oxidization of metal, it would change according to the metal in question and its environment (more oxygen would make it rust faster, as would more salt). Some metals, like gold, essentially don't rust at all.

Take a pipe or other piece of steel/iron and treat a spot with some sandpaper, leave it outside over night (24h) and the spot will be rusted if having contact to water, it's happening fast, but it just needs a little cleaning to be nice again.

Wiki info on rust

Originally posted by Lonewulph
reply to post by TheSparrowSings

 

Those who are inexperienced can't resist to venture outside and take a peek. In Florida we start curfews to help with this but there are those who still go out , then we end up trying to peel them out of power lines or trees.

Flying objects come from no where, take you out like a gunshot.

I can relate. Here in Alberta when they issue and Tornado Watch, we think it means GO OUTSIDE and watch for the Tornado. I guess us humans, curious by nature, can't resist to take a peak. The story about Toronto is a little shocking because of its distance from the worst of the storm right now but these things do happen when we tempt fate.

The first tsunami warning I ever went through, there was a huge traffic jam. People were rushing towards the beach to get a better look at the wave as it came in. It backed up traffic for hours. Thank god it turned out to be a tiny wave, or it would have killed a lot of people.

reply to post by Zaphod58


If the unthinkable tragedy of the Indonesian Tsunami did nothing else at all...I hope it cured people of that unlimited capacity for plain stupid. So many colorful forms of stupid too. I'll bet if it had been real and the water receded as it always does in a real one, they'd have rushed out to collect sea shells or the hash and trash that probably sits just under the waters along any beach.....then caught the ultimate and last wave of their lives.

I don't know if Indonesia's Tsunami can be called good in any other way at all, but for hammering the visual and idea of what these things are? A jackhammer couldn't have been more effective I suppose. Hawaii sure took it deadly serious on Saturday night!

Originally posted by TheSparrowSings
All I have to say is, yikes, here are a few updates that I have just seen on CBCNews National. They report that the winds from Sandy could be felt 1000km away.

Toronto woman dies after being hit by sign in high winds as Sandy approaches

Sea Water Floods Ground Zero, NYC



oh boy, it was a staples sign too

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


No, it really didn't. I have friends still in Hawaii, and they said during the latest tsunami warning, there were people surfing, and walking the beach waiting for it. Their capacity for stupid is intact. People have extremely short memories, and the Indonesian tsunami was like 400 years ago in the human consciousness.

Most people in Hawaii learned their lesson, but there are still some that hopefully will be wiped away by Mother Nature soon enough.

Always amazes me to see firefighters running into/towards situations that many of us would run a mile from.

Front of a building falls off, and they are straight in up those stairs. Must have been people still in the building for them to do that i'd imagine.

Good lads.

CX.

reply to post by Zaphod58

I'm not sure where they were on the Islands but Waikiki was deserted (the main live feed) and what the media did show a lot of were packed gas stations lined clear down the streets, traffic jams on one way inland traffic with all roads shore side being closed? I'd happened to be up as I am most nights and watched that all live the other night. I'd had the impression it was a mad house for the period everyone thought major waves might be coming?

Originally posted by cavalryscout
I'm not sure why the firefighters were at the location. It looks like there is caution tape in front of the building.

When I saw this video yesterday I wondered about the emergency vehicles being on scene also.

The building residents realized something was wrong, evacuated the building on their own and called it in.

A tourist staying in the building said she first noticed pieces falling from the ceiling.

“It’s an old building. It creaks and things, so initially we didn’t think anything was going on,” said the tourist, Natasha Stelmaszek, 56, of Seattle.

She went outside to take a look at the building, which has a business on the first floor, and noticed a crack.

“I decided to go upstairs to the fourth floor and then down to the second to let everyone know,” she said.

“And as a group, we just figured it was time to get out.”

Good on them for being proactive!


Seems the building has a shady history.

The building has had numerous violations, including one in August for doing a two-story extension without a permit.

www.nypost.com