Holy Krap

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There isn't a car out there that can't take winds of that speed.

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I can't claim to know much about it but I was watching a program the other night that looked at how hurricanes can blow the roofs off structures even though the structure should theoretically be strong enough to resist. Basically, debris picked up by the wind smashes the windows and compromises the outer shell. Once that happens the wind can enter the structure and the whole dynamic changes, allowing the pressure inside to build up until the roof blows off.

I imagine that something similar would happen in a car. If the windows on one side smash and you're hit by a strong gust of wind from the same side you'd basically be sitting in a sail. And I'm not a ballistic coconut is something I'd want to face.

Anyway, being as there's still massive tailbacks on the roads out of Houston I really hope you're right.

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Originally Posted by Shaggy Hiker

Why start then? I'm going to play it safe and evacuate Boise, now. ;)

Somebody was talking about being caught on the highway by the storm. I got thinking about it. As long as you are not moving, you certainly won't be blown away by the storm if you are in a car. There isn't a car out there that can't take winds of that speed. Therefore, the only things you have to worry about in a car would be flooding and flying things like windows, coconuts, Dutchmen, nuns, and the like. Otherwise, a car would be a particularly safe place to ride out the storm.

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Once again I'm late to the party because of work, but I have to disagree on a somewhat unlikely possibility. I was driving around the point of the mountain here on the highway a few months ago during a windy day. There were 4 semi trucks blown over and one of them had a car underneath it. It took like 5 hours to get the car's driver out. So that would be a bad situation, but highly unlikely I must admit.

That's a different story.

Those trucks can be flipped with comparative ease since they present a large broad cross-section, and the faster you are going, the more likely you are to be flipped by a cross-wind. It's a real risk. Trailers towed by cars can flip, too, which can twist the car. I saw an amazing video of someone towing a trailer. The wind flipped the trailer, and the car got thrown along with it.

The greatest threat to being in a car would be flying debris....or high water, but I think they are too far inland, and too high in this case. Flying debris is a bad one, though. There are people who go around cutting the coconuts out of trees to prevent ballistic coconuts. Those things can break a window with a vertical drop, being launched sideways is probably even worse.