The high winds plaguing the High Plains this week moved real estate ranging in size from bits of soil to the Chase Tower located in downtown Amarillo.
Brian Fleming is a Resource Planning Analyst for Xcel Energy. His office is on the 29th floor of the Tower. Fleming has a plumb bob hanging from the ceiling. Tuesday’s winds cause a swinging arc of 7 ½ inches according to a recent article in the Amarillo Globe-News.
“It slows down and speeds back up when the wind hits the building – the shake of (the building) gets it going.” Fleming said. “It (the wind) is moving the building. The building’s made for this. They took this into account when they built this building.”
A plumb bob is a weight suspended by a line that helps determine true vertical.
A video of the swinging pendulum can be seen on the Amarillo Globe-News website.