Can anyone AFFORD to build a EF5 rated "tornado proof" house?

[Wade12345]

My step-father is a concrete contractor, and he said 12 inch concrete walls and ceilings with steel reinforcement CAN survive an EF5 tornado, but I don't know anybody who can actually afford to build a house made of steel and concrete at present concrete prices.

Louisiana is usually the poorest or second poorest state in the U. S. and like I said most people can't afford a Katrina code house. So how is anyoen supposed to afford an EF5 resistant house to not get their house blown to bits by th etornado like last night?

They gave that a "preliminary" rating of EF3, but I swear if I understand the metrics its' really a 160 sustained with a 205mph gust, which is EF5. Hell if I know how you're supposed to rate anything any stronger than that anyway.

IN Super-typhoon Haiyan which hit the philippines, a 12 inch parking garage panel was destroyed by wind damage, which I calculated was 195mph SUSTAINED with a 255mph gust, so basically even if you made a concrete house it's not guaranteed to survive a tornado or even a max hurricane either. There's just nothing you can do about it except pray and hope it doesn't happen to you.

Updates

+1 y

We know EXACTLY what sort of wind is required to destroye an Andrew Code House due to Hurricane Michael, as verified by anemometer at Tyndale AFB at 160mph SUSTAINED with a 205mph gust. So I can say this tornado is SUPPOSED ot be rated 160mph sustained with a 205mph gust, which is SUPPOSED to be EF5.

Updates

+1 y

Keep in mind the Democrats and the Biden administration want to raise taxes on Concrete to prevent people from building using concrete... even though I just told you Steel Reinforced Concrete is the only thing that can survive this type of damage... and again, even that is not "guaranteed" to survive this type of damage.

[SaoirseS]

I don’t think much of anything can survive a direct hit from an EF-5 tornado. I think there’s a documentary online about the 2011 Joplin tornado that went through why some houses and other buildings survived (albeit with exterior damage) and most in the swath were totally flattened. In short, roof strapping kept roofs from being ripped off leaving the walls to collapse from lack of support.

[Wade12345]

This tornado wasn't like the Mayfield tornado, where it was an EF3 or EF4 for 30 consecutive minutes.

The one in Arabi was only on the ground for about one minute or so, but it is obviously at least 160 sustained with a 205 gust. I don't know what possible metric they can use greater than "house blown clear of foundation".

[SaoirseS]

I don’t know about the metrics either, sustained straight line winds don’t qualify but can do significant structural damage. I live in tornado alley. I’m with you, I don’t think anyone could afford reinforced concrete structures. I also don’t think they can zero defect build anything these days. Mother Nature is a bitch sometimes.

[Wade12345]

I'm still shocked at this tornado.

When you normally think of EF3 to EF5 tornadoes, you think it's going to be on the ground for a lon gtime and trained spotters are going to give you some kind fo fwarning, but this one literally dropped out of the sky with no warning, destroyed a few houses and damaged a couple hundred houses, and then disappeared instantly.

Like what's got me in awe is there's NO WAY to scientifically forecast this kind fo tornado. Even with Carbon-based computers we wouldn't be able to model this forming and happening that fast. WE don't have enough radars and don't have enough weather stations to get the data that would be needed to run a computer model with resolution that good.

So basically the best forecasters are ever going to be able to do is say, "Severe thunderstorm warnings may as well be treated as EF5 tornadoes every time... because an EF5 tornado can form that fast."

[Wade12345]

Here we see the metrics for the EF system is supposed to be rated by the 3-second winds, not the sustained winds.

www.weather.gov/.../efscale

Now watch, these two links are for small 1 or 2 family residences and 1 to 3 story residences, and you'll see if the metrics were obeyed as written, the Mayfield Kentucky Tornado SHOULD have been rated as 220+mph EF5, and the Arabi Louisiana tornado SHOULD get rated as 205+MPH EF5.

ONe or two family residence totally destroyed is "expected" to be 200mph with upper bound 220mph.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/2.html

And 1 to 3 story residence parameter as follows:

Apartment, Condo, or townhouse destroyed 1 to 3 stories is in excess of 205mph.

https://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/5.html

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see the video from TWC meets these criteria, and again the Mayfield Tornado SHOULD have been rated 220mph or greater..

[Wade12345]

WAFB 8 News just said it's at least 600 homes damaged by the Arabi tornado, and the one person who was killed was a 25 years old young man who worked for NASA who's house was "blown clear of the foundation" and who died shortly afterwards. I don't know how to make sense of this, seems like everyone in the community loved the guy.

Some of the "blown clear of foundation" houses were not up to most recent codes, but at least a few of them definitely were up to Katrina code. So I don't know what more it takes to rate it EF5.

[purplepoppy]

You could always build underground if tornadoes are a regular threat. Or what about making houses round as roundhouses aren't as affected by wind as square ones.

[Wade12345]

Not possible in my location, the water table is only a few feet below ground, and we get regular flooding year-round, not just in hurricanes. Not possible anywhere near New Orleans or Baton Rouge nor most entire Southern states for these reasons.

[mark000h]

No, probably not feasible, but that's why storm shelters are such great options, they are small and can save lives and important property.