Here at Shamrock Roofing, we’ve seen our share of mighty weather events that can do damage to our communities: from tornadoes to nor’easters to hurricanes to flooding. But we’re still suckers for big old-fashioned natural disaster movies. Here are some of our favorites: 7. The Perfect Storm (2000) This effects-heavy drama is based on Sebastian Junger’s 1997 best-seller about the loss of the Andrea Gale, a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The film has a murderer’s row […]
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December 4, 2017
It’s a word bantered around by meteorologists regularly, one delivered with a strong New England accent in the region: the “nor’easter.” It’s one of weather’s wackiest weather terms, but these storms are no joke. These infamous storms can combine torrential rains, strong storms, and fierce blizzards into one ferocious package that can knock New England out of power for days, sometimes weeks. But what is a nor’easter, and why is it so unique in the North American climate? Let’s […]
November 20, 2017
In all the time that the United States has recorded weather, there have always been those rare winter blizzards that exceed all forecasts, break weather records, and cause mass devastation on an unprecedented scale. Here are some of the biggest winter storms in American history. 1. The Blizzard of 1888: “The Great White Hurricane” (March 11-14, 1888) There are entire websites devoted to this whopper of a storm that paralyzed New York in the […]
November 6, 2017
These days, most people might be used to seeing “gods” personified on screen in movies like Thor, Immortals, and Clash of the Titans. But the history of weather gods is actually a fascinating, complex, and educational chronicle, filled with great stories and insights into the human condition. The Folklore of Weather For thousands of years, civilization has been fascinated with the study of weather, known to us today as meteorology. There are records of societies that performed intricate […]
October 23, 2017
In the aftermath of hurricanes Irma, Harvey, and Maria, many American homeowners are struggling to learn how to cope with water damage restoration, meaning the technical processes needed to repair a home that has suffered a flood or other water-related destruction. However, water damage restoration is a complex business and it’s easy for laymen homeowners to miss important steps in the process during the rush to clean up. Even a burst pipe can cost […]
October 9, 2017
Well, summer has long since passed and we’re officially in fall. It’s the perfect time to refresh your home and give it a good once over in advance of autumn winds and wintry weather. As the seasons change, so do the needs of our homes, as well as the activities we do in and around them. It’s a good time to perform any necessary or desired maintenance in order to keep your home running smoothly. From inspecting your […]
September 25, 2017
Winter is coming, so it’s time to prepare before you land new tenants or start fielding maintenance requests from your current apartment tenants. As a landlord or property manager, you have both specific and general responsibilities when it comes to all aspects of your apartment rental properties. These responsibilities are usually explicitly discussed in a lease or rental agreement, or they may be more general agreements between you and your tenants to keep up […]
September 11, 2017
The flood waters in Houston, Texas haven’t even started to abate after the disastrous storm that was Hurricane Harvey tore through the state here in August of 2017, and already victims are being left out in the cold. Several sources have reported that flood insurance policies plunged in the years leading up to the storm. In Houston alone, the number of policies fell from 133,000 to 119,000 between 2012 and 2017. “When you start to see policies drop like this, […]
August 28, 2017
Flooding is one of the most traumatic and dangerous natural disasters in the United States. In general, flooding is the number one natural disaster in the entire country, while flash flooding is responsible for approximately 200 deaths each year. From 2005 to 2014, the average flood claim was $42,000, and total flood insurance claims averaged more than $3.5 million per year. During the floods that erupted in Texas in March and April of 2016, […]
August 14, 2017
The short answer is no, but it’s perfectly understandable why many people think shading your air compressor a good idea. The concept of shading an air conditioning unit—specifically the air compressor—is a widely circulated myth largely based on a misconception of the science involved and the way an air conditioning unit operates. Why Shading the Air Compressor Doesn’t Work In theory, cooling down the air proximate to an air conditioning unit should give the machine a bump in efficiency because […]