Why aren't there tornado safety building codes?

[Riverwind (imported)]

This brings to mind a story my father told me when I was a kid, about one of his aunts who lived and farmed in Oklahoma where my father was born. A Tornado came through and totally destroyed her house, she did rebuild, underground, she never lived above ground again.

When I worked for Enterprise Rent a Car in St Louis they had built a new 5 story office building and on the 3rd floor was the computer room, on that floor the glass was 6" thick, just in case, of course I was on the 4th floor with normal glass windows, hmmmm, I guess I know which side my butter was breaded on.

River

[moi621 (imported)]

Ok.

The perfect building cannot be built to with stand any and all tornadoes.

But, stuff could be done as to make structures more secure and less likely to fall apart in lighter tornadoes. Yes? Also, to reduce likelihood of creating flying debris as a projectile. Si?

Moi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDDiIp7yfM sort of.

[sweet1bob (imported)]

Florida did a lot with buidling codes after hurricane andrew tore apart Homestead. increased basic standards so things had to withstand a higher windload. any retro fit had to meet the higher standards. the changes were driven by the insurance companies not wanting to pay for high losees again

bobbie

[jab (imported)]

There is footage of tornados going through downtown areas, and you see the size of the things compared to skyscrapers and to ordinary two-story houses.

"Up against a shark, what can a herring do?" - Oscar Hammerstein

It would make more sense to have mandatory below-ground shelters included in the city plans, within two blocks of any residence, even if they are just underpasses with a series of mechanical, non-locking gates to avoid being pulled out. Then you work on warning systems.

[Riverwind (imported)]

Ok.

The perfect building cannot be built to with stand any and all tornadoes.

But, stuff could be done as to make structures more secure and less likely to fall apart in lighter tornadoes. Yes? Also, to reduce likelihood of creating flying debris as a projectile. Si?

Moi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDDiIp7yfM sort of.

Moi, reduce likelihood of creating flying debris?

Are you going to outlaw trees, cars, signs, well that's not a bad idea, but are you going to outlaw cows, horses, because anything that is not cemented to the ground is going to be flying debris. shrubs, your cats, dogs, a bike left out by your neighbor kid, his skate board, your BBQ, picnic table and the umbrella, potted plants that are all around your patio and the list is endless and remember each and every one of them becomes a missile coming right at you. Power lines power poles, TV satellite dishes, the wind generator on top of your house, (did you know its also a weapon) how about your solar panels, when they are ripped off your house and then fly through your neighbors plate glass windows. (is it an act of god or are you responsible to replace his windows), of course his house is gone so.....

Just giving Moi something else to think about as he lies awake at night thinking of ways to post thread that annoy A-1.

River

[moi621 (imported)]

No!

Just to minimize flying debris in less then maximum storms.

k?

Moi

[A-1 (imported)]

This brings to mind a story my father told me when I was a kid, about one of his aunts who lived and farmed in Oklahoma where my father was born. A Tornado came through and totally destroyed her house, she did rebuild, underground, she never lived above ground again.

When I worked for Enterprise Rent a Car in St Louis they had built a new 5 story office building and on the 3rd floor was the computer room, on that floor the glass was 6" thick, just in case, of course I was on the 4th floor with normal glass windows, hmmmm, I guess I know which side my butter was breaded on.

River

It makes little difference how thick the glass might be if the walls are no longer standing.

F5 tornadoes will destroy everything that is not below ground and buried. Even the so-called "safe rooms" have a tendency to get blown into the next county.

Fortunately, only about 1% of all tornadoes are F5. The numbers could possibly be a little higher but the Fujita rating system classified by structural damage. Since many tornadoes do not hit populated areas, it is difficult to rate them if they do not hit structures.

One could possibly use Doppler radar data to ascertain wind speed, but that is a technology that is still in the works.

Go HERE (http://www.tornadoproject.com/fscale/fscale.htm) to learn more...

...more stuff HERE>>> (http://www.google.com/search?q=fujita+s ... d=0CEIQsAQ)

[Riverwind (imported)]

It does not take much of a wind to launch things into the air, a wind guest of 60 to 70mph can cause lots of damage and you don't even need to have a tornado around it for it to happen.

River

[BossTamsin (imported)]

We fairly regularly get storms with winds in the 100km/hr range up here, and I can definitely attest to the damage that they can cause. Do a search for 'Stanley Park wind storm', and you can see some of that damage for yourself. (Some reports have gusts from that storm topping out at 158km/hr, to be fair)

[moi621 (imported)]

We fairly regularly get storms with winds in the 100km/hr range up here, and I can definitely attest to the damage that they can cause. Do a search for 'Stanley Park wind storm', and you can see some of that damage for yourself. (Some reports have gusts from that storm topping out at 158km/hr, to be fair)

km :realpisse

Speak



Moi

Maybe a thread on why I hate metrics.

The metric clock, calendar, week, have all been designed and blissfully dropped.