Securing Property From Potential Storm Damage

[Stephen Levine]

As a storm hunter and lover, I am inspired by the power and magnificence of the elements.

As one who has much empathy, my heart goes out to those who endured property damage and injury from this last powerful storm system.

For some people, these last few days might be called "days of shock and awe".

Some scientists predict that events like those of the last few days will be increasingly common as climate change intensifies.

I believe that as a Nation we need to embark on a conversation about how to best secure property from the possibility of intensified weather outbreaks.

My favorite is the Monolithic Dome (www.monolithic.com) They are homes rated for F-5 tornadoes, and are also flood resistant, earthquake resistant and fire resistant.

A few years ago I saw a photo on the Monolithic website of a home that was struck directly by a tornado. A telephone pole was laying across the roof. The only thing that the occupants inside experienced was a deep roar for several minutes. Nothing more.

I hope to build a dome home someday. One in Florida has survived three major hurricanes intact.

Awhile back I also read of another type of tornado resistant home being built in Greensburg, KS. as part of their reconstruction. I don't recall the construction type or if there has been any live field condition experience with this construction type.

I would like to see your thoughts about storm proofing homes, construction ideas, personal experiences, etc.

Perhaps we can also share some thoughts about how we might be able to begin a national conversation about this issue, with the aim of decreasing suffering.

I believe that tornado shelters and "safe rooms" are a good start, yet perhaps we can do much more..

 

[Scott Weberpal]

What about the people who can't afford a regular home and are stuck in manufactured or mobile homes?

What about the people who don't want a dome? Other tornado-resistant type homes are very, very expensive. Heck, you can't even find an estimated cost on the website of the monolithic domes.

What are the odds of a violent tornado hitting a home? Climatology tells us that even in tornado prone areas, the odds of a house getting hit by a violent tornado is about 0.0000001%. When accounted for the fact that in order for a tornado to be rated as violent, it has to hit something, the odds are still extremely low 0.0001% in the most tornado prone areas of the country. http://www.flame.org/~cdoswell/tor_probs/vtornado_prob.html

Storm proofing a house needs to be on the homeowner and the homeowner alone. If we really wanted to, we could make vehicles that are essentially resistant to accident damage or bodily harm, but the cost is prohibitive.

Wood an nails are cheap, and people want the least cost prohibitive home possible. There are cheap tools such as hurricane clips that can be attached to trusses and will help limit damage in weaker tornadoes. Make sure the house is attached to the foundation. Little things like these can make the difference between needing a few cheap repairs or having to completely rebuild a house or outbuilding.

Sure, a little education about clips and ties and having a secure foundation is good, but in no way should anyone (and I know you didn't say it should be required) ever be required to make their house more natural disaster proof. Honestly, if you're a contractor building a house for someone, I don't know why you wouldn't try to upsell some products such as clips or ties. However, when a contractor is mass-building homes in a subdivision, they are going to try and do so as cheaply as possible, and quite honestly, not having clips or ties usually isn't a deal breaker for the buyer.

 

[Jason Foster]

Actually something I was studying a bit before I decided to put my architecture career on hold. There is no need to live in a funky dome. That is for the weirdos that think they know so much about all this GW stuff and more. While it is an important note to fact, and it's just as stupid to dismiss GW, but the reality of a storm proof home is closer than you might expect.

Traditional home designs (contemporary, modern, post modern, craftman/praire/bungalow and more) can be designed and constructed to survive EF3 & EF4 damage rather easily with such basic things as metal strappings, proper window specifications, etc. It is more expensive. In central states, it might be cost prohibitive when average home prices are 50% the national average. However there is factor to of mandated codes versus cost loss when damage does occur. The metal strapping should be mandated. There is little cost there. But it does get expensive fast when you spec certain window types that are design to not only not survive a Cat.5 hurricane, but survive w/out breaking. But an average window that might cost ~ $400 (standard dbl-hung) the hurricane rated window runs around $2500. However, consider that at times windows are a critical failure point that allows wind and debris entry into a home. Additionally Garage Doors (a HUGE failure point) can be designed to increase reliability during significant storms. anyone who has a two car garage with a single door REALLY should consider modifying their home to a two door garage. Not all can due to width and existing code requirements, but many chasers can vouch for the failure rate with the larger doors.

It isn't a matter of a conversation, it's a matter of action on the part of the right authorities implementing the codes necessary. In fact it was just this past Saturday during the NC tornadoes that I observed and documented a house that nearly completely left it's foundation intact. Tim Marshall has been saying for years how THAT (the connection of the home to the foundation) is the single most common point of failure.

Success will result in a phasing in of the changes in codes necessary. Much like the LEED (sustainable building standards) is getting mandated in all structures little by little, it starts with commercial structures (easier to offset the costs within the businesses income) and move to multifamily structures where again cost scaling is reduced. Finally single family home new construction would be required to meet the requirements.

 

[Tim Shriver]

Scott said "Sure, a little education about clips and ties and having a secure foundation is good"

Good points.

You can make your home much more able to withstand high winds with simple tie downs, anchor bolts into the base sills, etc.

Just the simple thing of having wall studs toe nailed in rather then straight nailed in through the end can make a difference.

I am shocked at the number of homes that simply are not bolted to their foundations or the rafters are not secured
with more then a few nails.

The average cost to a stick built home for basic reinforcing runs about $3000 - $4000. But has to be done during construction
to be the most affective.

Some improvements can be made to an already erected home also.

Tim

Tim

 

[Stephen Levine]

It's interesting that I posted this discussion before the latest major tornado outbreak. I believe that we really need to encourage a Nation-wide (especially in storm prone areas) conversation about making homes more storm proof.. Not having at least a basement or at least a safe room or onsite shelter to me is about the same as driving down the highway with no seatbelts on. It's unlikely that one will get into a crash, yet we still need to be protected.
According to the Monolithic Dome company it costs about the same to build a Dome home as it does a conventional home. Other helpful home designs include the partial underground homes that we occasionally find in the Prairies. To not make adjustments that flow with -rather than against nature is to invite suffering that might not have to occur. I like the idea of home tie-downs, anchoring, etc.. but then there is the debris that doesn't respect that.

 

[rdale]

Not having at least a basement or at least a safe room or onsite shelter to me is about the same as driving down the highway with no seatbelts on. It's unlikely that one will get into a crash, yet we still need to be protected.

I see where you're coming from, but strongly disagree on your comparison. Traffic accidents kill a minimum of 30,000 people per year. This outbreak killed 1% of that number...

 

[Wes Carter]

I see where you're coming from, but strongly disagree on your comparison. Traffic accidents kill a minimum of 30,000 people per year. This outbreak killed 1% of that number...

I agree the comparison is skewed a bit, as most are in one way or another. However, I'm guessing that statistic applies to the nation as a whole. You would have to only factor traffic fatalities in the areas that would benefit from more stringent construction standards of homes to make a good comparison. That being said, your point is still valid not only for that reason, but also because if you average this year into the past 10 years and do the same with auto accidents in the extended definition ofTornado Alley, the cost vs benefit favors spending more on auto safety than it does improved home construction by far.

I can see a possible opportunity for some of the home construction outfits to make some money in this depressed economy by making existing homes a bit more storm resistant. I went in the attic and crawl space under my house and looked a while back. Although it would be difficult to take some of those steps as Jason mentioned, it's not entirely impossible.

But I think the best thing most could do would be to invest in a storm shelter of some sort. About 1/2 mile from me is a place that sells prefabricated underground storm shelters for $3500 installed. That and a gun safe to keep all important documents, family heirlooms, and irreplaceable items plus a good insurance policy should cover the bases for many people.

 

[Mike Moore]

I drove over to my mothers house today, (on a barrier island) and at the entrance to her neighborhood is a nice, new hurricane proof home. It looks absolutely ridiculous. It has tiny windows an ugly box shape... but whatever maybe they're getting a great rate on their homeowners insurance. Now drive 10 miles down the island and there is a giant manufactured home community.

How exactly could you add a safe room or legislate some kind of protection to such a wide range of dwellings?

Adding a $6k safe room to a $450,000 beach house? No sweat. Adding it to a $40,000 trailer... not so much.

 

[TJKLECKNER]

At one time I imagined just using a strong concrete (empty) septic tank that you could buy for about 1k and bury it a about two or three feet down and create a hatch way. But thats pretty redneckish....lol

 

[Mike Moore]

At one time I imagined just using a strong concrete (empty) septic tank that you could buy for about 1k and bury it a about two or three feet down and create a hatch way. But thats pretty redneckish....lol

For the WIN!

I think as long as it had a shelf for your banjo you'd be alright. ;-)

 

[Stephen Levine]

I see where you're coming from, but strongly disagree on your comparison. Traffic accidents kill a minimum of 30,000 people per year. This outbreak killed 1% of that number...

For clarification, I meant to make it an analogy rather than a comparison of deaths.. Not having some sort of home protection regarding storms relative to the possibility of receiving severe damage/destruction/emotional suffering is analogous to not wearing seat belts driving down the highway relative to the possibility of serious injury or death in the auto.
I most certainly agree that storms kill and maim far less people than auto accidents, and in fact use that argument when people tell me I "must be crazy" to see beauty in storms. I ask them if the death and maiming at the hands of automobiles makes cars less attractive to look at or ride in even though 40,000 people die by them in America alone; a severe epidemic.

 

[rdale]

Gotcha. Anyone interested in this topic REALLY needs to read the book just published by the AMS called "Economic and Societal Impacts of Tornadoes" available (cheaper at Amazon) https://secure.ametsoc.org/amsbookstore/viewProductInfo.cfm?productID=68

 

[J Tyler]

Adding some RANDOM thoughts to the conversation:

If I add measures to my home to help it weather a moderate tornado better, that will be negated if none of my neighbors do the same. The debris from my neighbors destroyed homes pummeling my home at 200mph will probably make my measures useless.

Wasn't there discussion at one point about garage doors being a problem? Something to do with lighter winds being able to blow in the garage door, and once winds had access into the interior of the structure, failure happened earlier and with lower overall winds? Just giving the homes a stronger garage door helped the home survive up to higher winds.

As for property damage and doller loss, I would *WONDER* if hail damage isn't worse than tornadoes. Just building hail proof roof would be something to look into/consider. In Dallas, everytime a major hail storm comes thru, it costs hundreds of millions. My homes hail damage one year was almost $8,000, and I have a brick home.

Stopping people from rebuilding homes in flood prone areas would probably pay higher dividends.

I've lived in tornado alley almost my whole life, yet I've never personally known a person that lost their house to a tornado.

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

I wonder if building codes that require garages to be seperate from the house would help. We built our garage northeast of our house. We also secured our house to the foundation and made or roof more connected. We have no windows on the south side of our house. None of this is required here. We built our house ourselves so I don't know what cost it would add to a contractor built home.

 

[E. Clark]

The problem with current building standards is straight, flat walls.
The other problem with current building standards is that this is the same way we have been building since time out of mind. The reason we have built this way in the past is that we were not technically nor mechanically nor mentally adept enough to build anything other than in straight lines. Or if we did produce something with a correct curve- it took a monstrous amount of difficulty in all three arenas. Today we have evolved past the technological and mechanical barrier.

Regardless, now we build this way because companies have built up entire industrial sectors surrounding the flat wall design. The problem with changing that comes down to a.laziness and b.complacency. "But that's the way we always done things by gum!" This standard building industry pr machine has attacked (sometimes ferociously) any other design- especially dome-styles- in an attempt to maintain the status quo. I have personally visited the dome home in Florida referenced by the OP. There was still debris scattered around at the time from Hurricane Ivan but the Dome was literally unscathed.
Not only that- but it is beautiful - story and pictures here: http://www.monolithic.com/stories/feature-home-doah

This home literally cost less to build than any of it's recently built neighbors- all of which were devastated by the hurricanes.

The problem comes down to this; before we can change our ways, we need to change our minds. The building industry could stop keeping people hostage to literally ancient building design and develop an entirely new sector in materials, design, acoutrements, etc and open up new manufacturing model of everything from plumbing to furniture.