And here I am with my douchebag orange car right next to my super candy apple green wrapped wagon...

Yeah, I can't stand cars in colors that aren't colors.

You mean in international airspace over international waters?

Yes, the warnings were accurate and gave plenty of time. They had a very specific area designated and I was in the exact middle of it, the meteorologists were spot on. I was in a purpose built storm shelter built into the floor of my garage. My two friends, their dog and I all got in with about 10 min to spare.

That’s definitely accurate but it was a gradient up to that point. At first it was just hard rain and small hail that had already been falling. Then it got louder and we heard larger hail hitting my friend’s car that was just outside the garage. Then louder and louder, I was just feeling bad for her because of her car at that point. Then it was just banging and crashing sounds and I was just hoping that through sheer wishing and force of will that it was just my garage door that broke and all I was hearing was stuff blowing into my garage. Then it got louder and louder with a fairly distinct single crash.

It did not ramp down the way it ramped up, or the adrenaline masked it but I feel like after the last hit it was back to quiet pretty quickly. Ears popped once during the ramp up and like crazy during the eye, which went directly over my house.

The shelter is a steel box with a sliding and locking roof/lid. It is fully enclosed on all sides but there are air vents that lead to chambers to keep ventilation, but all with hollow spaces around it and nothing that allows any direct intrusion. The moment the house fell a cloud of dirt dust and just generic debris particles blew straight in all around us.

“The right to discuss is a privilege“

That word, I don’t think it means what you think it mean.

In what world does the Barbie movie have a plot that requires a map showing territorial waters of the South China Sea? Even if she was traveling the world this specific part of a map seems like it’s zero value added.

I was in a purpose built shelter. I do not believe I would be alive if I was anywhere else.

Catastrophic, but the weird quirk of where stuff landed for me is that nothing that was in the actual house left the property. I got absolutely everything that I wouldn’t be able to replace and lost zero sentimental items.

We heard them but to be honest, they go off from time to time and we rarely go to the shelter. I know the official position is to run for shelter the second you hear them but most people treat them as an alert to check the detailed warnings, look at the radar and go look outside. I did all of the above and the combination made me decide to go into the shelter for the first time in like 3 years. We were down in plenty of time.

Edit It has been pointed out that I latched onto the color and shape of the grill that is generally on the sportier Ford Foci and forgot about the 2012 base model. I hate when people delete comments and leave a graveyard of broken context so I'm leaving it up but I was wrong on what the blue car is.

Interesting, the blue car is clearly a ‘09 Ford Focus RS but it appears to be in Nitrous Blue, a color only available on the ‘16-‘18 Focus RS. Seems very specific.

The Chinese are absolutely allowed to fly planes there. What is against international law is unsafe intercepts and flying within 10 feet of another aircraft.

Bigger and heavier vehicles (more specifically “trucks” which aren’t legally defined by their beds and encompass virtually anything larger than a simple sedan) are exempt from the majority of fuel economy standards. As a result many auto makers have just straight up stopped making “cars” and shifted entirely to larger vehicles because they can get away with more emissions. Yes, a 2023 SUV is slightly more efficient than a 2013 SUV, but so many more of them are being sold instead of cars that the overall emissions are way higher. I love my Ford Focus from 2017 but Ford literally cancelled every single sedan, coupe and hatchback other than the Mustang and now exclusively makes SUVs, trucks and a single sports car.

I mean, California bans this as well and they aren’t exempt despite being where Reddit is located. Spez doesn’t seem to care what is legal.

This is my living room and kitchen, taken standing on top of my bedroom wall which was laying on my bed.

When it changed from "Social Media" to "Social Media" it really went to shit. That and when Google's new board decided "don't be evil" was no longer compatible with their goals. Yeah, the internet used to be great...

Last I saw I thought he was also criminally charged since this was well outside the scope of castle doctrine or no duty to retreat. Both of them require a reasonable threat which was not present.

Nope

A secret service vehicle likely has fully automatic weapons inside as well as encrypted radios with current keys and who knows what level of sensitive real time info on presidential movements. It wasn’t just an “unoccupied car” it was a liability that could lead to real danger to the public.

That is already a thing. The prohibited persons restriction of the Lautenberg Amendment applies to any possession, not just ownership. Even the military is required to continually verify that servicemembers are still legally allowed to be issues weapons for duty.

Yup

Yes, county emergency management makes it very easy to register what type of shelter, where it is in your house and how many occupants live there. Not everyone does it but my wife did it the first week we lived there. I was able to dig my way out but I had neighbors that were trapped.

Until the exemptions for “light trucks” go away this won’t change. The current CAFE standards reward automakers for making even larger, less efficient and more dangerous “passenger” vehicles every year.