Category 6 Isn't Enough

[ysabetwordsmith]

I have said for some time that the current hurricane scale, which has 5 categories, is insufficient and needs a Category 6. Looking at the actual numbers on the scale and in recorded storms, this turns out to be insufficient also. It doesn't need one more category, it needs TWO.


The current categories average a range of about 20, some lower, some higher. Positing a scale that uses categories of similar size would yield something like:

Category 1 = 74-95 mph (range of 22)
Category 2 = 96-110 mph (range of 15)
Category 3 = 111-129 mph (range of 19)
Category 4 = 130-156 mph (range of 27)
Category 5 = 157+ mph [new 157-176] (standard range of 20)
Category 6 = 177-196 mph
Category 7 = 197-216 mph

At that, the revised scale would just barely cover Hurricane Patricia's ominous 215 mph peak sustained wind speed. O_O That means we should be ready to activate Category 8 (217-236 mph) in the foreseeable future.

Now, the government doesn't want to panic people, or get blamed for the fact that climate change is making hurricanes a lot more violent than they used to be and also now clustering. But wouldn't it be useful to know that the official "Category 5" now contains a wider range (58) than Categories 3 and 4 combined (46)? (Some people may argue that we only need three action-based categories: Ignore It, Batten the Hatches, and Run For Your Lives.) Happily, the forecasts customarily include the actual wind speed, so you can simply adjust the scale on your own.

Of course, wind speed isn't the only thing that makes a hurricane dangerous. As mentioned, clustering means they are now more likely to come in twos or threes. Even a sideswipe by a later storm after the first storm has cracked open a city will be more devastating. Global warming seems to increase the storms that show rapid intensification, which can turn a minor storm into a major one with little warning. Rising sea levels boost storm surges. Warmer air also means that hurricanes can dump more rain. Storm surge and rainfall make even the lower categories more destructive.

Don't expect the politicians and the people they direct to give reliable interpretations. Be glad that pretty accurate weather information is available for you to analyze yourself. Here's a list of weather apps and weather websites with varying degrees of detail. For the hardcore weather nerds, you can also get raw data. Explore the parts of a text Hurricane Forecast/Advisory.

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Done right, they are no smellier than water toilets.

Cultural differences are interesting -- in some countries, people don't like soiling water, or find toilets less appealing than whatever traditional option. There's a magnificent rant about government housing in Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions with the epic line "Throw out that thing to piss in, I won't use him!"

You might explore different types of composting toilet to see if anything appeals to you. They are popular for vardos, tiny homes, and off-grid living which seem to overlap your interests. If you meet people in those contexts, ask if you can explore their composting toilets.

You may also wish to read this book:
https://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html

Re: Thoughts

[siberian_skys]

Thanks for the link.

I love the idea of a tiny house. I miss the tiny house shows that used to be on HGTV and the like. My only issue is that I need one that doesn't have a loft. I'm getting too old for that.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

There are plenty of nonloft designs. Alternatively you could just leave the loft area empty for air circulation.

This one is adorable with great space division.

Here is a concise little cottage.

This one has an indoor garage.

There are a few ADA plans, like this one, if you want to think ahead for mobility issues.

Here is a site with many free or cheap plans.

Re: Thoughts

[siberian_skys]

These are adorable. I have been thinking about ADA for down the road. I am not getting any younger.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Bear in mind:

* It is much easier to make things accessible during the build than as retrofits.

* There is no such thing as "universal design" because different people have different needs. There are just things that are helpful or troublesome to larger ranges of people.

* There are many disabilities, they need different accommodations, and what helps one may make another worse. Attempt to predict your body's most likely failure modes.

* Some features, especially for wheelchair accessibility, have big impacts on space. In a small area these can be devastating. Kneespace removes storage space, wider hallways and larger bathrooms waste square footage on areas rarely used, and so on. Making a tiny house both accessible and livable can be extremely difficult.

* If you need grab bars, forget the ugly overpriced medical ones. Buy stair rails, which have to be just as strong, but come in a zillion styles at affordable prices and can be cut to any length you want. They even have other shapes than round for better grip.

Re: Thoughts

[siberian_skys]

It's a little bit funny, but shouldn't be. My Mom tried thinking ahead when she and my Dad built the house that I'm living in right now. She made sure that the doorways and hallways were built wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair, but there is no way that you could get a wheelchair into the bathroom. There is a lip on the shower and a ridiculous sized bathtub across from the shower door. I don't know what she was thinking.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

She probably thought of things she knew about, but lacked the experience to understand what else could cause problems. Most people are that way. And they rarely ask a wheelchair user to look over their plans or roll through the floorplan to see if it really works. It's very hard to think of things you've never encountered.

I've seen an electric wheelchair stall out over a 1/4" threshold, sometimes 1/8" inch. I also know that water goes down no matter how hard you try to keep it contained. So if I were designing an ADA bathroom, I'd probably go for a wetroom with a rollover hill at the edge of the shower, sloping down to a drain, rather than any kind of applied threshold. But I'd have to look up turning radius, and I'd have the sense to ask if any of my friends know what kind of fixture layouts are most convenient on wheels or with other challenges.

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

Always ask someone with lived experience, if you can. (Disabilities, discrimination, safety...)

With wheelchairs, able-bodied folk often think of doorways and ramps... but will often forget or not think of things like doors that are inoperable by positioning of furniture, steepness of ramps, height of chairs being easier/harder to get into, the fact that cobblestones/brick/sand are inacessable, bathroom logistics, and so on.

Also, accommodations will be different for electric and manual chirs,as well as for different kinds of disability.

A paraplegic athlete has very different needs than, say, someone with severe TBI. Different patients with TBI can have an astonishing variety of mobility and ability.

(I am able-bodied, and picked up most of this info by social osmosis. Therefore, I've probably missed something...or several somethings.)

Re: Thoughts

[siberian_skys]

That's the odd thing. We used to bring my grandmother home from the nursing home for family dinners from time to time and dealing with her wheelchair in my childhood house was not easy. Apparently she forgot about that. But, it would be smart to ask the advice of someone who is actually in a wheelchair or at the very least a physical therapist.

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

People I picked up this information from:

- physical therapist with auto mechanic and engineering training

- someone who has limited mobility [can only really use head & hands] and uses an electric wheelchair

- someone who is paraplegic (for reasons we ended up discussing various accessibility stuff)

- having discussions in cyberspace like this

If you are asking a wheelchair user, try asking someone with similar equipment and limitations. 'Impared mobility' occurs in a lot of different ways.

Granted, I'm used to crazy juryrigging stuff, and not having access to relevent resources (including experts.) Hmmm...I've heard of people crowdsourcing solutions/advice to problems on Reddit; maybe that would be an option?

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

People have also crowdsourced solutions here, as they admire my large and widely experienced audience.

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

Yup. But I try to refrain from imposing unless:

a) it is a particularly fascinating discussion topic

b) it is relevent to a discussion that is already occurring

It seems more polite that way (as opposed to the whole 'treating smart people like vending machines' thing).

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

There's a different between pestering one individual in person and asking an audience online. Here, people can choose to answer if it's interesting and convenient, or not. They seem generally helpful. This is especially true when a question relates to someone's causes -- there are plenty of folks here agitating for more accessible housing.

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

Avoiding the whole 'ettiquite demands you stay in an akward conversation' stuff is one of the reasons I like these discussions. Plus I [introvert] have more time to formulate replies.

I'll still try to 'read the room' a bit, and either stick to conversations or acknowledge that I'm asking something out to left field.

And yeah, my brain accumulates a lot of really oddball ideas, musings and wonderings. (Digging through my brain can be like beachcombing after a storm.)

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

>>Cultural differences are interesting -- in some countries, people don't like soiling water, or find toilets less appealing than whatever traditional option.<<

One day I'll have to write a story with this as a Culture Clash.

Rude Person: "Why the hey are you teaching people how to go to the bathroom? Are y'all stupid?"
Explaining Person: "Nope, we just don't have bathrooms like this back home. And Janitor Joe will get really mad if someone breaks the bathroom...again."
RP: [Sarcastically] "You expect me to believe you don't have toilets?"
EP: "Nope!" [Cue matter of fact explanation of holes-in-the-ground as batherooms...
RP: [...and an increasingly weirded-out face from the rude person.]
EP: [Returns to explaining that toilets are safe, hygienic, not a place to put random garbage, and not a portal to the Underworld Realm of the Sewer King]

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

This has come up variously in:

* The Rutledge thread of Polychrome Heroics where Syrians are used to squat toilets instead of seated toilets, and also need decent wudu facilities.

* At least one reservation, probably in Polychrome Heroics, regarding outhouses.

* Officer Pink in Polychrome, where Conrad's farm uses haybale urinals and has come up with various options for centaur toilets.

* At least one other reference in Polychrome Heroics to universal multispecies toilets such as large sandboxes.

* Composting toilets for vardos and tiny houses in Polychrome Heroics.

* Daughters of the Apocalypse has several references to sanitation needs or failures.

Feel free to prompt for more, I'm fascinated by potty tech.

Re: Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

It never the obvious things that trip you up; it's always the things that are so obvious (or occasionally, akward) that no-one thinks to (or wants to) mention them.

For what it's worth, I think theres a whole class of cultural misunderstandings (and other akward things) that can be cleared up with a very matter-of-fact explanation. Assuming that's in your skillset, anyway. (And that the other person isn't just a jerk.)

...and it is a /great/ nonviolent way to make the story antagonist's life just that much more difficult. Bwahahaha!

Re: Thoughts

[fianna9]

Like when I was in a mall in Japan not designed with tourists in minde. The bathrooms had a circle and a triangle on the door; no typical American stick figures. One was blue tile; one was green tile. My husband and I debated which one we were supposed to use.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

Watching other people will usually resolve that, if you can identify clear categories and match them to yourself.

As much as I like the funny stick figures, unicorns, and unicycles used on all-gender bathrooms, I have to admit that a picture of a toilet is crystal-clear across all cultures that use toilets.