Interesting Video Footage in my Lobby ....

[Raptor]

This video comes from the lobby of my building in May 2020. There was an afternoon thunder storm passing through...not to spoil things but the door that is the star of the video, with the plate glass intact, weighs about 100 lbs.

Sit back and watch. Note the attitude of the guard and building employee. Surprised but then the training kicked in. I am proud of the way they did their job. The guard did what she was supposed to do;  go into the office behind her to alert the rest of the employees and the other building employee went into the elevator corridor to keep other tenants out of the lobby until the scene was secured.

All in all no big deal but nice footage of another "pop quiz" in NOLA.

BTW the revolving assembly door was damaged and the cost of repairs was about $5,000. No one was injured and all people involved went home safely.

 

[EBuff75]

Wow!  That looks like more than just "an afternoon thunderstorm" from the way it flew across the lobby!  Do you have any idea what the speed of the wind was in that storm, or is there just a quirk with the way the wind gets funneled by your building?  Glad nobody was hurt.

[Raptor]

It was likely a microburst of wind. 
There is a funnel effect but not at that part of the building. The wind speed at nearby recorded points did not show a gust of over 40 mph. But a micro bust can be isolated and is always a down draft. If you notice right before the door explodes off the rain direction seems to change and is being driven horizontally.  

Those revolving doors are rated to 60 mph and have never had a problem in the past. That said for hurricanes there is a special storm shutter that goes on the outside of the enclosure so they are rarely tested to this limit.

I measured the distance and did my best to calculate the time it took the door frame to hit the wall and came out with ~ 35 to 45 mph. So that would have hurt a bunch if you got hit with a 100 lb weight moving at that speed.

I was on the side of the of the building with the funnel effect when this happened and thought a tornado had passed between the my building and the building next door. Both are over 23 stories tall (so mid rise buildings).

 

[NT2C]

I'm glad the result was just property damage.  Property can be repaired or replaced, people can't.

[Raptor]

I'm glad the result was just property damage.  Property can be repaired or replaced, people can't.

Yep and the other lesson is that mother nature likes to throw a pop quiz at random times.

  

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

I'm glad the result was just property damage.  Property can be repaired or replaced, people can't.

Yep and the other lesson is that mother nature likes to throw a pop quiz at random times.

 

Who was it that had a sig line on the old boards that said something like "Thou shalt not mess with the forces of Mother Nature, for thou art small and biodegradable. " ?

Was that Woodswalker or someone else ?