IBHS News Releases

Tampa – A study published in the Spring 2004 issue of Disaster Safety Review, a quarterly journal of the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), emphasizes the need for wind-resistant design in tornado prone areas of the country.

In the article written by Brian T. Readling, P.E., of APA – The Engineered Wood Association, he says, “Homes constructed in compliance with hurricane coastline wind loads could withstand full exposure to tornados classified up to F-2.  Since tornado forces decrease dramatically within a short distance of the funnel, a well constructed home would also be less vulnerable to winds on the outer regions of an F-3, F-4 or F-5 tornado.”

The study includes observations the APA’s Field Services Division made in Battlefield, Missouri, just days after a tornado ended a 45 mile long track there.   The May 4, 2003 twister was part of a wicked weather system that produced tornadoes in eight states.

Observers found construction weaknesses in newly built homes and nonresidential structures, including a lack of light-gauge metal hardware to connect rafters to walls, and bolting systems that could have secured walls to foundations; wall sheathing that was not able to resist impact from windborne objects; and garage doors built with lightweight metal, which were no match for pressures and flying debris accompanying the tornado.

Readling explains that building with wind-resistant designs in all tornado prone areas are improvements that can be made with relatively small additional costs, and some extra attention to detail on the part of the designer and builder – the value of which could be realized in improved safety, among other things.

For information on how to protect your home from tornadoes, click here.  To request a copy of Disaster Safety Review, call toll free 1 (866) 657-IBHS (4247) or view it online at:  http://www.ibhs.org/publications/view.asp?id=482.