Tornado resistant houses? Why not?

 

"My heart goes out to people who have lost everything due to a fire, an earthquake, a hurricane or a tornado. But there are ways to build houses which can withstand some earthquakes. Houses which can withstand some fires. Houses which can withstand some hurricanes. And houses which can withstand some tornados." 

Another week of strong storms down in tornado alley - more houses destroyed, and more importantly, more innocent people are dead. Most of the houses which are destroyed by the average twister, look just like the houses in any neighborhood. Beautiful, classy, and vulnerable to the strong winds from a tornado. And to make matters worse, because many houses down south don't need basements, if a F3 or stronger tornado happens to hit your house - there will be nothing left, and no place to hide when it hits. 

The biggest complaint the folks in Florida have about their homeowner insurance is the cost. It just keeps going up and up. Why? Every year it seems there is some kind of wind and or rain event which damages or destroys houses in Florida. And every year there is the call to make a different kind of house in Florida. One which can withstand hurricane strength winds. Soon, the homeowners in Florida might be in the same jam homeowners in fire ravaged CoCal are. Uninsurable.

Who will be next in the eyes of the homeowner insurance industry? Maybe the homes in "tornado alley". But here's the thing folks (as Sleepy Joe would say), there already IS a solution to a normal tornado taking down a beautiful and expensive home. A home which could survive a strong EF 4 or EF 5? Maybe not yet. But weaker tornados for sure. Then why are not building companies building nothing but tornado resistant homes right now? Looks. They don't look as nice as today's Parade of Homes styles. Thus, home builders keep rolling the dice that their homes will never get hit.

I remember years ago when in Florida over the winter, we were staying at a nice condo in a VRBO. One day, the weather was particularly unsettled (normal down there for the month of February), and a strong tornadic storm system was headed east over Mobile Bay. This had the weather folks very nervous, and they told the folks in Pensacola to take cover and get ready for bad things.

Being Minnesota folks, we normally would just head for the basement. In this condo, there was no basement. Most folks in Florida with no basements or storm shelters just hide in the bathrooms and cross their fingers. To me, that was a sad substitute for a good old basement. Anyhow, the sirens went off, the wind, rain and hail hit, and it was bad. However, no tornado hit our condo. We were lucky, but it was a nail biter for sure!

My heart goes out to people who have lost everything due to a fire, an earthquake, a hurricane or a tornado. But there are ways to build houses which can withstand some earthquakes. Houses which can withstand some fires. Houses which can withstand some hurricanes. And houses which can withstand some tornados. 

How about you Mr. Bird? Can your house survive a natural disaster? Not even close. Was not in the calculus when we build forty years ago. Today however, if we were young and starting over again, those thoughts would be in my calculus. Convincing my wife, however, might be another issue!