Insulated Storm Doors

Building codes ignore tornadoes

Watching tornadoes turn houses and stores into piles of rubble in the Southeast and Missouri, you might think buildings would be required to meet some sort of building code designed to withstand deadly twisters.

But there aren't any tornado building codes, not even in Tornado Alley.

The International Building Code adopted by many cities, including Wichita, address natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, but not tornadoes.

Experts say it would be impractical and costly to require structures that could withstand the killer EF-4s and EF-5s that have seemed to dominate the recent storm season, although there are ways to lessen damage from smaller storms.

Wichita's code has an amendment requiring structures to be designed for 90 mph straight-line winds, said Kurt Schroeder, superintendent of central inspection. The code also includes an amendment requiring any storm shelters that are built, or structures that are designated as storm shelters, be designed in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency standards.

FEMA guidelines govern resistance to wind loads and windborne debris impacts. They require safe rooms to withstand winds up to 250 mph, protecting against the impact of a 15-pound two-by-four flying at 100 mph.

The city doesn't mandate such shelters, except in mobile home parks.

"Those would be pretty much concrete, hulking structures and no openings, except for heavy-duty doors," Schroeder said.

In-home shelters are more practical, if costly. FEMA estimates the costs of constructing a safe room inside a new home or small business can range from $6,500 to $8,500 for an 8-foot-by-8-foot room. Larger, 14-foot-by-14-foot rooms can cost from $11,500 to $13,500.

Schroeder said basic wind speed standards in the city code relate to issues such as uplift on roof structures, straps on corners of framing, minimum distances from corners for windows, and nailing patterns.

The city inspects for these standards, and builders adhere to them, he said.

Wess Galyon, president and CEO of the Wichita Area Builders Association, said that after the 1999 Haysville tornado, builders and code officials worked together to improve the way perimeter walls are tied together, and on ways to protect roofs from uplift.

The use of Insulated Concrete Forming systems, which can protect a major portion of homes against 200 mile an hour winds, also has grown over the years, he said.

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