Hurricane Aftermath

[Sign Lady]

Been meaning to post this, but just haven't had time.  If anybody believes in miracles, here is one for you.  There was a man SITTING in the car to the far right when this sign fell on it!!  He still had his left foot on the ground getting into the car and his wife was on the way down to get in the car.  Had she been just a few minutes on time (she was running late) she would have been dead and had he been a few minutes earlier, he would have been too probably.  The poor woman the silver car belonged to, her insurance company refused payment to replace and or repair her car!!  Said they weren't responsible.  

[Sign Lady]

I have NO IDEA what was going on with my computer yesterday - I attached photos to this and then it went haywire and posted the thing like 20 times!  I see this morning that it didn't even post the photos.  This computer has been in the shop like 4 times since the hurricane.  Me thinks it needs to go again!

 

Here are the photos so the above message will make more sense.

 

 

Thanks!

Angie

 

 

 

[southernsigns]

What was the cause of the failure?

 

I understand their was a hurricane, but aren't the signs installed in that area rated for 120 mph wind loads? I can understand if the faces ripped, but not the whole structure. Were winds in excess of 150 mph?

[Mad Scientist]

What are we looking at?  Cold welds on the pipe?

[Sign Lady]

On 12/16/2016 at 5:18 PM, southernsigns said:

What was the cause of the failure?

 

I understand their was a hurricane, but aren't the signs installed in that area rated for 120 mph wind loads? I can understand if the faces ripped, but not the whole structure. Were winds in excess of 150 mph?

 

No, just a sustained 80-90 for an extended period of time.  It started early evening and basically went all night and into the next morning.  

[Sign Lady]

2 hours ago, Mad Scientist said:

What are we looking at?  Cold welds on the pipe?

 

I was just basically posting to show the damage done by the sign when it fell, and to tell about the gentleman that was sitting in the car when it fell on it.   

[Mad Scientist]

As interesting as the lucky bastard was Angie, just trying to figure out the other part of the story.  Why did the f...... thing fall down.  Let's get to the bottom of that.  

[Sign Lady]

15 hours ago, Mad Scientist said:

As interesting as the lucky bastard was Angie, just trying to figure out the other part of the story.  Why did the f...... thing fall down.  Let's get to the bottom of that.  

I think there were a couple of reasons.  I would be interested to see what you guys think the reason was based on the photos I posted.  Probably the same as mine, but just to see, what do some of you think is the reason for the failure?Just an FYI - both faces were in tact when it fell - Actually not too old either because of a face change a couple of years ago.  Signs at the same height and higher ALL around this one that are still standing tall and were subjected to the same windage for the same amount of time. (it is at the interstate - Florence exit where all of the motels worth staying in Florence are basically - this one has motels on ALL sides of it with high rise signs)  Just curious what some of you think.

 

Forgot to tell you that the huge LED message centers were added years after the sign was originally installed!  

 

Thanks!

Angie

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Sign Lady

[imanut]

Probably your last paragraph answered the question.

[Sign Lady]

1 hour ago, imanut said:

Probably your last paragraph answered the question.

And I feel sure that the foundation wasn't looked at or anything prior to.  That is just one of my thoughts.

 

 

 

Thanks!
Angie

 

 

 

[southernsigns]

The reason I asked is because that bottom picture looks almost like a section of pipe that was butt welded.....maybe two sections of same size pipe joined together......and it looks like it sheared off right at the weld....

 

But its hard to tell without the full sign in the picture what's going on exactly.......and as you said other signs of similar height right next door fared just fine.

 

Was the base pipe still in the ground, and the sign broke and fell at one of the welds.....or did the foundation and whole structure topple......?

[southernsigns]

Actually just doing a little research I found the hotel. Just do a little search.....on the uploaded photos of the hotel are the following ! What an advertisement!

 

https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/102165977067151202613/place/ChIJjYJXwkRmVYgRFksrA1cYHp4/@34.227974,-79.799741,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m7!1e2!3m5!1s-irMLZA0TX34%2FV_xsM_zKETI%2FAAAAAAAAsa0%2FI0wTfEUE7gEsJVnh3nqI-Lw4Ee3MoCp9ACLIB!2e4!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-irMLZA0TX34%2FV_xsM_zKETI%2FAAAAAAAAsa0%2FI0wTfEUE7gEsJVnh3nqI-Lw4Ee3MoCp9ACLIB%2Fw203-h100-p-k-no%2F!7i2988!8i3984!4m6!1m5!8m4!1e2!2s102165977067151202613!3m1!1e1

 

I'm betting it was uploaded by either the sign company....or the guy who's car got smashed!!

 

Snapped at the base like I thought from the photo....bad butt weld.

[Mad Scientist]

Like I originally said in the beginning of this post, not only a shitty weld but where is the sleeve inside the pipe at the weld point?  Duh.  Morons can kill.

[Sign Lady]

2 hours ago, Mad Scientist said:

Like I originally said in the beginning of this post, not only a shitty weld but where is the sleeve inside the pipe at the weld point?  Duh.  Morons can kill.

 

 

I'm the sign company that cleaned it up, so no, it wasn't posted by us.  I don't know who that Joe person is that posted it. Like you said, likely the man the car belonged to (it actually belonged to a rental company!!).  I think their insurance companies were refusing to pay for their cars!!  I know the woman driving the silver car had been told by her insurance company that they weren't paying for hers.  But to answer your question, yes, the foundation was still in the ground in tact and yes, it did break at the weld location I posted in my photo.

[Sign Lady]

2 hours ago, Mad Scientist said:

Like I originally said in the beginning of this post, not only a shitty weld but where is the sleeve inside the pipe at the weld point?  Duh.  Morons can kill.

I clicked on the post with the photos in it to quote and it quoted yours instead for some reason.  My response was to the post about the photos being posted to Google Earth, not yours.  Sorry it didn't post to the correct post.