2 ms·
That’s devastating. I wonder why houses in such areas are not required to provide underground shelter, or at least be built more solidly.
by manmal 5y ago
That’s devastating. I wonder why houses in such areas are not required to provide underground shelter, or at least be built more solidly.
- ghaff 5y agoYou cannot reasonably build solidly enough to withstand a high-level tornado unless you're talking underground bunkers, which are not an acceptable answer.
- manmal 5y agoThat’s a bit defeatist, though? Efforts have been made, eg https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4102&context=all_theses https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=... It seems a concrete dome would also work if digging a bunker is too expensive. Yes it’s not pretty, but not being afraid of dying during the next hurricane season must be worth something. A small dome can’t cost much.
- ghaff 5y agoSure. Building a reinforced shelter for tornadoes, nuclear attack, etc. may make sense. Historically, in the US Midwest that meant going into the basement. But you don't live there.
- bobthepanda 5y agoIs it not? For a few decades the Swiss required building concrete nuclear fallout bunkers for every resident. This was relaxed only recently, but presumably it was doable for five decades. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-bunker/swiss-relax-nuclear-shelter-construction-law-idUSTRE7B01RP20111201 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-bunker/swiss-relax-...
- ghaff 5y agoSo you can be in a bunker above ground. At that point you're quibbling.
- coryrc 5y agoIt's not a problem, people just don't want to pay for it. https://www.icfmag.com/2012/09/tornado-resistant-concrete-houses/ https://www.icfmag.com/2012/09/tornado-resistant-concrete-ho...
- hoseja 5y agoThere aren't many natural disasters a sufficient amount of reinforced concrete can't fend off.
- kayodelycaon 5y agoMany places the basement would be under the water table or have to be carved out.
- mcguire 5y agoAfter the 2011 tornadoes in the Southeast US, many communities built above-ground shelters (think "bunker"), with the downside being going any distance to a shelter is likely to be more dangerous than staying where you are. Also, many homeowners bought smaller above-ground shelters (think "steel pill-box").