If England was to be hit by a storm/hurricane like those in Florida.....

[Ilmb]

What would happen to us? I know in America these storms are their ‘norm’ and many have tornado shelters etc and when they know these massive storms are coming they are evacuated..... they get sent inland for example. But what would happen if we had one coming? We live on a relatively small island (compared to America) and we wouldn’t actually have anywhere really to evacuate to? What would happen if we were hit by one?

Just thinking ... as you do.

The original post wasn’t offensive.

The “I’m not starting a petty debate on who is and isn’t part of England” is offensive and incredibly ill-informed.

Sitting here in coastal Wales watching the water exit my neighbours gutters vertically with quite some gusto I think we'd be fucked if there were a storm like the one in Florida this week. Here we've had gusts of half the speed of the hurricane and there's been some quite substantial property damage, lot of trees down and disruption due to flooding. If this area was hit with sustained winds of over 100 miles an hour I don't think there would be many roofs left. Trains aren't running in coastal areas so an 18 foot storm surge would do a lot of damage in low lying areas. Also the topography of this country means that the amount of rain brought by a hurricane would mean a lot more dangerous flooding downstream as all the water was channeled off the hills down valleys and rivers, remember that Cornish village?

Or I could just be someone who watches too many naff weather disaster films...

oh my good trampoline!

*god

I think ask8ng about England specifically is a good point Wales can come inland to us but where do we go? I live in the fucking middle

But if you live in the fucking middle you aren't as likely to be affected. Take this image from yesterday. As soon as it makes landfall the impact is massively reduced. Where I live sticks out into the sea so it's been a fun 24 hours.

Although you realise if we've been forced inland we'll be with you so it's the same for everyone?

England centric stuff is so funny.

I love that trampoline vid, thank you

The lass saying ‘oh ya pig’ cracks me up

I've often wondered this. Our infrastructure barely copes with a bit of wind or snow so I should imagine the country would pretty much grind to a halt.

Anyone know what kind of wind speeds a typical brick house could take?

I don't remember that storm in 1987! Which month was it?

We are a small island with no where to really go if we had to evacuate

We can evacuate 'up' away from the sea ie into towns, villages on hills.

We won't have as much destruction because we have properties built from stone/brick rather than wood so yes you might loose a roof or your windows but probably not whole streets. There would be deaths due to falling masonry.

Lots of out utilities are under ground and we have a national grids o it would be easier to keep the lights on even if it was 1970s style power cuts.

We's all have a nice cup of tea provided by the WRVS and or the Salvation Army then start the clean up.

It was in October, Hollow.

"France can move further inland" Cracked me up!

We are a small island with no where to really go if we had to evacuate

Britain isn't a small island compared with actual small islands.

Yes, I remember the October 1987 storm, when we didn't really get the flooding, it was all wind damage: loads of roads closed, structural damaged, trees down, railway lines blocked, some infrastructure down. No-on had really prepared, as there wasn't a clear warning (those that did exist were rather dismissed after Michael Fish's notorious comment on BBC).

So I suppose it would be like that, with flooding.

I'm not sure the public are well informed about hurricane/typhoon precautions, and there isn't a network of shelters. So board/tape up and drive to outside the warning area is probably all that can be done.

LostinShoebiz god you sound like a right grumpy git

One thing that strikes me about the aftermath of storms in the US is just how many houses are basically just sheds & made of wood.

I'd of thought that living in an area that is prone to hurricanes you would want your home to be less flimsy?

I've been wondering that too this week Ifailed. Why go to all the trouble on tornado shelters and evacuation plans, but not actually build houses that are more robust? Weird.

I'd of thought that living in an area that is prone to hurricanes you would want your home to be less flimsy?

I once asked someone about this who lived in a hurricane alley, it is deliberate, the house is flattened but the debris does less damage and you start again.

I once asked someone about this who lived in a hurricane alley, it is deliberate, the house is flattened but the debris does less damage and you start again.

In that case, why not just make them out of straw and be done with it?

agent I already said it was a typo if you had read my response.

I didn’t compare England to small islands I said we are small compared to America, who have a lot more ‘land’ to move inland across to hopefully stay safe out of the pathway hence why they evacuate because they CAN evacuate somewhere else.

If we were hit with what Florida have just had a lot of our buildings would be flattened. They had large buildings that looked like a tornado had gone though and were flattened. Interesting about them making the houses so they flatten and start again, I didn’t know that.

aviator I meant that France being physically connected to other countries, they COULD evacuate somewhere albeit into another country, so I don’t know if they actually would do that, my point is when you look at the large area these massive storms/cyclones etc cover, we wouldn’t be able to evacuate ‘further inland’ as we are small compared to America.

Bit off topic but does anyone remember the great Birmingham tornado of 2005?!

I shit you not. It was actually really scary as there wasn't time to evacuate. Sky just went completely black and a sodding tornado appeared. Remarkably, there were no casualties (apart from one slightly bruised parking attendant and 19 other people injured) It caused ££££ damage.

(My mate was on holiday in France and returned to a house with no roof. Building renovations had only just finished so she then had to spend another 18 months in temporary accommodation while her house was fixed... thank god she was insured. Not sure what the people with no insurance did ) http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/peopleanddplaces/newsid8973000/8973381.stm

It’s not a typo. A Freudian slip, maybe, but not a typo.

I don't think we would see such a high percentage of buildings flattened, compared to what you see in the US, given our high building standards. The UK has some of the highest building standards in the world.

My cousin lives in an area of Florida that was hit by Hurricane Irma last year. His property is within a 'luxury development', and is therefore built to higher standards than the average American home, but it still suffered some fairly severe damage (but was not flattened).

We would see damaged buildings for sure, but I really don't think we'd see whole communities flattened, like you see in the US whether it be a hurricane or tornado.