New information reveals that 90% of U.S. counties experience tornado watches, and that’s causing some to say that it’s time to build tornado resistant homes.
In January, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes released updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Storm Prediction Center data showing that nearly 90% of U.S. counties experience tornado watches. According to FLASH this information underscores the point that building tornado resistant homes is not just beneficial to people in places where tornadoes are notorious.
FLASH reported that stronger homes and safe rooms can bring peace of mind to all who could potentially be in harm’s way as they wonder if their town will be next. The organization also stressed that it wouldn’t cost more than $1 per square foot to build tornado resistant homes and forever reduce the pattern of death and destruction.
Building For Resilience
In the May 2013 FLASH paper, “Building Codes: The Foundation for Resilience” the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) building science engineers, and leading academic researchers called for a new way of building to meet the challenge of saving lives while also preserving property in the face of tornado outbreaks. Their work, published as the Dual-Objective-Based Tornado Design Philosophy, is landmark in that it defies traditional assertions that from an affordability perspective you can’t build tornado resistant homes.
Investigations Into Collapsing Buildings
The research comes on the heels of field investigations that documented a pattern of disproportionate structure collapse in tornado outbreaks. The new thinking is that even small design changes can make a difference, and there are guidelines to estimate the tornado-induced loads. This will provide reasonable targets for designers to use in their future work. Homes built to these newer, research-informed guidelines will have the advantage of better wall bracing, improved roof tie-downs and overall stronger connections.
Tornado Event Realities
According to FLASH, this approach is buoyed by the finding from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) that most tornado damage comes from the milder tornado events because they are most common. Only 1% of tornadoes are of the violent types, called Ef-4 or EF-5. And, since 90 percent of all tornadoes never exceed EF-2, winds of up to 135 mph, wind-resistant building practices can save lives and dramatically improve building performance in tornado events.
“If we can put a man on the moon, we can keep a roof on a house, and our research demonstrates it is possible to design and build houses that protect people and structures from deadly winds,” said Dr. David O. Prevatt, associate professor of the University of Florida, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering. “Techniques developed and implemented in Florida that have reduced hurricane losses can be applied and used in houses to also reduce tornado losses.”
Homes are long-term investments. Eighty percent of the nation’s home stock is more than 20 years old, and most of those homes will be around for at least another 30 years. Thus, it’s important not only for individual families to make careful choices now as they rebuild, but each community must acknowledge its responsibility to rebuild in a resilient way, according to FLASH.
[otw_shortcode_divider margin_top_bottom=”30″ text=”Tornado Deaths Source” text_position=”otw-text-left”][/otw_shortcode_divider]
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/fatalmap.php
It all depends on the strength of tornado, but still possible.
Agree with Luke, quite a few factors at play here! Makes sense to build homes that are resistant to their local environment though. Always amazes me how some people can live in the shadow of active volcanoes – not much lava-proofing technology out there!
yes, tornado resistant homes can really help you protect not only for your self but to protect you financially.
These storms may be devastating, it is better to be safe than sorry
Its amazing that with the recent spate of bad weather businesses arent trying to build tornado and storm proof housing. Like you say, its time we did.
Thank you for sharing this informative post about why we need to build home that can protect us from tornado. It is one of the world’s most devastating and violent weather events.
EF-5 proof houses have been built for decades. About the same cost as a “normal” house.
monolithic.org
It’s way past time. I’ve had a website presenting some good options, with many links, for years before this article.