Fires, Hurricanes, Tornadoes Bombs and other disasters.
I didn't include everything, but I included enough...
The (former) Joelma Building (below) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the morning of February 1st, 1974 in which 188 people perished.
Rebuilt
---
In October 2004 in Caracas, Venezuela, a fire in a 56-story office tower burned for more 17 hours and spread over 26 floors. Two floors collapsed, but the underlying floors did not, and the building remained standing.
---
In February 2005 the 32-story Windsor Building in Madrid, Spain, caught fire and burned for two days.
The building was completely engulfed in flames at one point. Several top floors collapsed onto lower ones, yet the building remained standing
---
Al Nasr Towers in Doha Qatar again gutted in fire
Over 400 persons including Indian workers had a miraculous escape after fire engulfed the Al Nasr Twin Towers in the West Bay business district of Doha, for the second time in six months.
---
On the 4th of October 1992, an Israeli El Al cargo plane, flight 1862 (a Boeing 747-200F), crashed into a 12-story apartment block in the Amsterdam suburb of Bijlmer.
At least thirty nine people on the ground, and all four people aboard the aircraft, were killed. During the following months, some eight to nine hundred people, including local residents and rescue workers, complained of health problems.
For years, Israel and friends put pressure on the Dutch government to hush up details of the crash, especially, the contents of the cargo.
---
One of the most ironic building damage ever - when the Transport Tower in Astana, nicknamed the 'cigarette lighter' because of its shape...caught fire!
---
The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 began on 21 September, when Russian President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the country's legislature (Congress of People's Deputies and its Supreme Soviet), which had opposed his moves to consolidate power and push forward with economic reforms.
By sunrise, 4 October, the Russian army encircled the parliament building, and a few hours later army tanks began to shell the White House.
By noon, troops entered the White House and began to occupy it, floor by floor.
The ten-day conflict had seen the deadliest street fighting in Moscow since October 1917. According to government estimates, 187 people were killed and 437 wounded, while sources close to Russian communists put the death toll at as high as 2,000.
---
The Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, City of London, England. One person was killed in the explosion and 44 injured, and damage initially estimated at £1 billion was caused. As a result of the bombing the ring of steel was introduced to protect the City, and many firms introduced disaster recovery plans in case of further attacks.
More massive IRA bombs in London's financial districts in 1990, and 1996
IRA bomb the 620ft Post Office Tower 1971, after which the restaurant is closed indefinitely
1968 Ronan Point Tower block collapse after a gas explosion
---
Hotel Warszawa
Concept Art for the future Hotel Warszawa
---
Warsaw Old Town- XIV-XVIIIc
Following the Siege of Warsaw, parts of the Old Town were rebuilt, but immediately after the Warsaw Uprising (August-October 1944) what had been left standing was systematically blown up by the German Army.
After World War II, the Old Town was meticulously rebuilt.
---
The Royal Castle in Warsaw- Before second war
1939:
1944-1945
Royal Castle in 1945. It was deliberately destroyed by the Germans in 1944.
Now:
More Warsaw Pictures 1944-1946:
---
Ostankino Tower in Russia is a free-standing television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia. Standing 540 metres (1772 ft) tall.
The tower caught fire on August 27, 2000, killing three people. In addition, television and radio signals were disrupted around Moscow. The fire broke out at a height of about 458 m (1,502.6 ft), or approximately 98 meters (321 ft) above the observation platform and the Seventh Heaven restaurant, after a short-circuit in wiring belonging to a paging company
---
Collapse of a high-rise building because of failure of the columns at the first storey during the Chi-Chi earthquake, Taiwan, September 20, 1999, Magnitude 7.6
Overturning collapse of a high-rise building during the Chi-Chi earthquake.
---
The renowned Holiday Inn, Beirut
Widely considered to be one of the best sniper positions during the civil war 1975-1990.
It still remains till today in this battered state.
---
The London Blitz
The Lindon Blitz started after an unsaid agreement between UK and Germany not to bomb the capitals was broken.
The first German bombs fell on central London on 24 August 1940. Reputed to be a mistake by German bombers aiming for the Thames estuary, RAF retaliation on Berlin was followed by the bombing of London on 7 September which started 'the Blitz'.
On 7th September 1941, 965 planes forming a 20 mile wide block of aircraft, filling 800 square miles of sky approach the city. 20,000 are injured and 500 killed on this first day, and is followed every night by hundreds of bombers for 76 consecutive nights, save one.
---
A bank in Lagos Nigeria partially collapsed.
A previous fire had weakened the structure and later a thunderstorms winds knocked the top 9 floors down.
---
Parque Central Torre Este
On October 17, 2004, a fire broke out in the east tower. At least ten floors were damaged in the incident. The fire started on the 34th floor and flames reached the 44th floor of the building. These floors housed key government offices. At the time an inquest was being held on the activities of these offices.It sustained critical damage as efforts were hampered due to poor water pressure and lack of fire fighting equipment. Military helicopters tried pouring water from above to quench the flames. It was also feared that the steel structure could be damaged severely enough to collapse.
Currently (as of May 2009[update]), the east tower is still undergoing major repairs due to the damage caused by the fire. Reopening is expected to take place during the second semester of 2010.
---
Sarajevo, is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the eighties...
During the war in 1992
Reconstructed
---
Sampoong Dept Store collapse, Seoul, 1995.
501 people died and 900 were injured when the building suffered catastrophic collapse after an extra floor with swimming pool was added during construction. The engineering firm complained it was unsafe but the owner hired a new firm instead (that worked for his company) to approve the work. They not only failed to add structural support but used inferior concrete too. Despite all this the building stood for 6 years.
2 days before collapse a worker noted a gas leak but it was denied the building close for repair. On the day of collapse the ceiling on the 5th floor started crumbling, but the only response from the owner was to move the luxury merchandise to the ground floor, and refuse evacuation. At approx. 6pm the ceiling collapsed causing all 5 floors to cave in, with fires breaking out across the wreckage.
---
1999 Taichung Earthquake, Taiwan measuring 7.6 toppled 13,000 highrise apartments (quakes of a certain frequency will only topple buildings of a certain height, leaving lower or taller ones untouched - most infamously seen in Mexico City 1985 when midrises across the capital were leveled).
However thanks to good building regulations these towers only partially collapsed - the only catastrophic collapses (when the entire structure pancakes down) were in lowrise masonry structures, hence a relatively lower death toll of 2,375 than could have been.
---
1995 Kobe earthquake, Japan
The January 17 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake (M=6.9), commonly referred to as the Kobe earthquake, Collapsed Hanshin Expressway was one of the most devastating earthquakes ever to hit Japan; more than 5,500 were killed and over 26,000 injured.
The economic loss has been estimated at about $US 200 billion.
The proximity of the epicenter, and the propagation of rupture directly beneath the highly populated region, help explain the great loss of life and the high level of destruction.
---
Bangkok- Cyber world Tower
Burnt while under construction ( after sitting around as skeletons since 1997 after the Asian economic crisis) and which construction started again in 2006.
---
Nigerian Industrial Development Bank Building in Lagos.
In early 2006 the top two floors caught fire. Two days later during a heavy windstorm, the top nine floors collapsed.
---
1985 Mexico City earthquake
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that struck Mexico on 19 September 1985 at 7:19 local time, caused the deaths of about 10,000 people and serious damage in the nation's capital.
The complete seismic event consisted of four quakes. A pre-event quake of magnitude 5.2 occurred on 28 May 1985. The main and most powerful shock occurred 19 September, followed by two aftershocks: one on 20 September 1985 of magnitude 7.5 and the third occurring seven months later on 30 April 1986 of magnitude 7.0.
The quakes were located off the Mexican Pacific coast, more than 350 km away, but due to strength of the quake and the fact that Mexico City sits on an old lakebed, Mexico City suffered major damage. The event caused between three and four billion USD in damage as 412 buildings collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city. While the number is in dispute, the most-often cited number of deaths is about an estimated 10,000 people.
---
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time.
Caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault, the temblor lasted 10–15 seconds and measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale (surface-wave magnitude 7.1) or 6.9 on the open ended Richter Scale. The quake killed 63 people throughout northern California, injured 3,757 and left some 3,000-12,000 people homeless.
The earthquake occurred during the warm up for the third game of the 1989 World Series, coincidentally featuring both of the Bay Area's Major League Baseball teams, the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.
Because of game-related sports coverage, this was the first major earthquake in America to have its initial jolt broadcast live on television.
---
The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 20 seconds.
The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6.7, but the ground acceleration was one of the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America.
Seventy-two deaths were attributed to the earthquake, with over 9,000 injured.
In addition, the earthquake caused an estimated $20 billion in damage, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
---
---
The Monte Carlo hotel in Las Vegas
fire broke out near the roof of the massive 3100 room resort in January 2008, it quickly spread to both side of the south wing and took firecrews approx 2 hours to put it out
---
The (former) MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Fire (below) in Las Vegas on November 21, 1980 in which 85 people perished.
And, TODAY as Bally's Las Vegas
---
Los Angeles' First Interstate Bank Building (now the Aon Tower).
During the late evening of May 4, 1988, and the early morning of May 5, 1988, members of the Los Angeles City Fire Department successfully battled what has proven to be the worst, most devastating high-rise fire in the history of Los Angeles. Extinguishing this blaze at the 62-story First Interstate Bank Building, 707 West Wilshire Boulevard, required the combined efforts of 64 fire companies, 10 City rescue ambulances, 17 private ambulances, 4 helicopters, 53 Command Officers and support personnel, a complement of 383 Firefighters and Paramedics, and considerable assistance from other City departments.
---
In February 1991 a fire gutted eight floors of the 38-story One Meridian Plaza building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fire burned for 18 hours. The building did not collapse.
---
Northridge (Los Angeles) Earthquake, 1994
---
The The Great 2000 Fort Worth Tornado occurred on March 28, 2000, moving eastward through the downtown area of Fort Worth, Texas (USA).
The tornado was classified as an F3 on the Fujita scale, with some estimates making it a very low F4.
Two people were killed by the tornado and 80 were injured, with six seriously injured.
The heavy rain and hail that followed damaged many interior areas of buildings which were exposed by the tornado's winds.
---
The, former and so-called " fireproof ", * Winecoff Hotel Fire (below) in Atlanta GA during the early hours of December 7, 1946 in which 119 people perished.
And, TODAY as the Ellis Hotel following a multi-million dollar renovation in 2006.... (below)
* It remains the deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history, and prompted many changes in building codes. - Wikipedia
---
At 9:40 a.m.on Saturday, July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber, piloted in thick fog by Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith, Jr., crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors, where the offices of the National Catholic Welfare Council were located.
One engine shot through the side opposite the impact and flew as far as the next block where it landed on the roof of a nearby building, starting a fire that destroyed a penthouse. The other engine and part of the landing gear plummeted down an elevator shaft. The resulting fire was extinguished in 40 minutes.
14 people were killed in the incident. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded. Despite the damage and loss of life, the building was open for business on many floors on the following Monday.
The crash helped spur the passage of the long-pending Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, as well as the insertion of retroactive provisions into the law, allowing people to sue the government for the accident
---
Sherry-Netherland Hotel Fire - 1927
Headlines called it "The Best Show of the Season in New York City". The new Sherry-Netherland Hotel became a blazing beacon for miles as the scaffolding above the 32nd story burned itself out. It was the first real skyscraper fire the thousands in the street below had ever seen.
---
Chicago Fire - 1871
Despite being more than half wiped-out during the Great Fire of Chicago, the task of rebuilding can be seen well underway with horsecars and trolleys running. Pictured is the intersection of State and Madison streets, looking northeast, two days after the fire.
---
The Tri-State Tornado of Wednesday, March 18, 1925, was the deadliest tornado in U.S. history. With 695 confirmed fatalities, the tornado killed more than twice as many as the second deadliest, the 1840 Great Natchez Tornado.
The continuous ≥219 mile (≥352 km) track left by the tornado was the longest ever recorded in the world: the tornado crossed from southeastern Missouri, through Southern Illinois, then into southwestern Indiana.
While not officially rated by NOAA, it is recognized by many as an F5 tornado, the maximal damage rating issued on the Fujita scale.
---
April 16–18, 1947 Texas City, Texas
A fire and subsequent explosion on the French freighter Grandcamp destroyed most of the city; 516 killed.
---
The Johnstown Flood (or Great Flood of 1889 as it became known locally) occurred on May 31, 1889.
It was the result of the failure of the South Fork Dam situated 14 miles (23 km) upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, made worse by several days of extremely heavy rainfall.
The dam's failure unleashed a torrent of 20 million tons of water (4.8 billion U.S. gallons; 18.2 million cubic meters; 18.2 billion litres). The flood killed over 2,200 people and caused US$17 million of damage.
It was the first major disaster relief effort handled by the new American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton.
---
Hurricane Andrew was the final and third most powerful of three Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Andrew caused 65 deaths along its path.
---
Hurricane Ike was the third costliest hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States.
It was the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was a Cape Verde-type hurricane, as it started as a tropical disturbance near Africa at the end of August.
On September 1, 2008, it became a tropical storm west of the Cape Verde islands. By the early morning hours of September 4, Ike was a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) and a pressure of 935 mbar (27.61 inHg)
---
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall.
---
The Oklahoma City bombing occurred on April 19, 1995 when American militia movement sympathizer Timothy McVeigh, with the assistance of Terry Nichols, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
It was the most significant act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001, claiming the lives of 168 victims and injuring more than 680.
The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen–block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.
Oklahoma City memorial.
---
In the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings
(August 7, 1998) hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the United States embassies in the major East African cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.
The attacks, linked to local members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad brought Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to American attention for the first time, and resulted in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation placing bin Laden on its Ten Most Wanted list.
---
1993 World Trade Center bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a car bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,500 lb (680 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to knock the North Tower (Tower One) into the South Tower (Tower Two), bringing both towers down and killing thousands of people. It failed to do so, but did kill six people and injured 1,042.
Underground damage after the bombing
---
I was really debating on posting these ones. I was talking to someone a few weeks ago who admitted they never seen pictures from September 11th. Lucky them in a sense but its also a shame. That day changed our country forever and now I know people MUST see these images if they have not before.
This just proves how freaking ignorant humans can be.
I'm crying as I'm typing.
These images are still so fresh in my mind, just like it happened yesterday.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center…
Aerial view of the World Trade Center ruins, five days after the terrorist attack in New York City
Traffic passes the construction site of the Freedom Tower on Friday at the World Trade Center site in New York on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
The pentagon…
United Airlines Flight 93 in Stonycreek Township, near Shanksville, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania,…
Ground Zero
Along with the 110-floor Twin Towers of the World Trade Center itself, numerous other buildings at the World Trade Center site were destroyed or badly damaged in the September 11th terrorist attacks including...
Marriott World Trade Center,Three World Trade Center
Four World Trade Center, Image taken by NOAA's Cessna Citation Jet on Sept. 23, 2001 from an altitude of 3,300 feet
Five World Trade Center in a NOAA aerial image following the September 11, 2001 attacks. North is approximately upper right on the image.
Southwest corner of Six World Trade Center, which was the U.S. Customs House.
BMCC's Fiterman Hall,Seven World Trade Center
The World Financial Center- 200 Liberty Street, 225 Liberty Street,
200 Vesey Street, 250 Vesey Street,
Winter Garden Atrium and NYMEX building.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church stood across Liberty Street from the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, USA. It was completely destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks when the South Tower collapsed. It was the only non-WTC building to be immediately destroyed by the attacks.
---
On January 5, 2002, just four months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 15-year-old amateur pilot Charles Bishop stole a Cessna plane and flew into the Bank of America building in Downtown Tampa.
Bishop died, but there were no other injuries (because the crash occurred on a Saturday, when few people were in the building). A suicide note found in the wreckage expressed support for Osama bin Laden.
:(
No comments:
Post a Comment