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Severe Weather 2021

buckeye05 said:
I'm already more impressed with this one than Newnan. Contextual damage is more impressive here. Notice in that photo you posted how the cars have been thrown/pushed from driveways, and how the debris is strewn downstream rather than just piled into heap. With Newnan, vehicles sat untouched in the driveways of leveled homes, and debris was not strewn long distances.

Newnan really should be bumped down to EF3. Honestly, the Fultondale, AL and Sunset Beach, NC tornadoes from earlier this year are better EF4 candidates than Newnan.
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Sunset Beach for sure. Not sure about Fultondale but I've questioned Sunset Beach's rating from the very beginning.
 
TH2002 said:
Did Newnan level any homes that were properly bolted to their foundations? I've read that this one was but I'm not sure:
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The one close up of a foundation in Newnan that I saw showed very poor anchoring. This foundation perimeter is not visible in the above pic, so there is no way to tell, but given that this was in the same subdivision, I doubt there was solid anchoring.
 
TH2002 said:
Sunset Beach for sure. Not sure about Fultondale but I've questioned Sunset Beach's rating from the very beginning.
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I'm basing Fultondale on the contextual damage, as the homes in Fultondale were not well-built, but the debris patterns, vehicle damage, and tree damage was considerably more intense than that photographed in Newnan. There was some debarking and extensive denuding, and a jacuzzi that was thrown from one residence in Fultondale was never found.
 
buckeye05 said:
I'm basing Fultondale on the contextual damage, as the homes in Fultondale were not well-built, but the debris patterns, vehicle damage, and tree damage was considerably more intense than that photographed in Newnan. There was some debarking and extensive denuding, and a jacuzzi that was thrown from one residence in Fultondale was never found.
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Any photos of where the jaccuzi was before it got blown away? Also of the tree and vehicle damage.
 
TH2002 said:
Any photos of where the jaccuzi was before it got blown away? Also of the tree and vehicle damage.
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I don't have any photos of the jacuzzi, but the tree and vehicle damage is well documented in the DAT survey. It's nothing crazy, but definitely shows some low-end to moderate debarking (especially in the last photo), debris strewn long distances, and vehicles flipped or tossed from where they were parked. Nothing that is clear-cut EF4, but the overall damage just has "the look" of a more significant tornado when compared to Newnan.

Note the anchor bolts in pic #3, though NWS Birmingham states that the construction of that house was poor quality
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I still think EF3 is an acceptable call for Fultondale, but I would have gone higher than the 150 MPH estimate, and an argument for low-end EF4 can be made.
 
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buckeye05 said:
I don't have any photos of the jacuzzi, but the tree and vehicle damage is well documented in the DAT survey. It's nothing crazy, but definitely shows some low-end to moderate debarking (especially in the last photo), debris strewn long distances, and vehicles flipped or tossed from where they were parked. Nothing that is clear-cut EF4, but the overall damage just has "the look" of a more significant tornado when compared to Newnan.

Note the anchor bolts in pic #3, though NWS Birmingham states that the construction of that house was poor quality
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I still think EF3 is an acceptable call for Fultondale, but I would have gone higher than the 150 MPH estimate, and an argument for low-end EF4 can be made.
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Of interest is the bent anchor bolt in the third photo. If the home was as poorly constructed as NWS Birmingham claims it is, it's very possible that was a result of the tornado's winds and not so much debris impacts.
 
First significant tornado from yesterday has been rated. High-end EF2 confirmed in the Philly suburbs along a path extending from near Fort Washington to Horsham Township. 130 MPH.
 
buckeye05 said:
Was expecting a higher wind speed estimate than that.
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Me too. Unless the home was a prefab (which I HIGHLY doubt) or not well-anchored, realistically there are no reasons to go with such a lower-bound rating. Context was much more impressive and the home was likely better constructed than the ones leveled in Newnan.

That being said, the rating is preliminary and I hope it changes.
 
TH2002 said:
Me too. Unless the home was a prefab (which I HIGHLY doubt) or not well-anchored, realistically there are no reasons to go with such a lower-bound rating. Context was much more impressive and the home was likely better constructed than the ones leveled in Newnan.

That being said, the rating is preliminary and I hope it changes.
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Same. 150 MPH does not sit well with me. They should al least bump it up to 160 MPH.
 
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