And you often have flooding situations as well, if you look at photos of Asheville. Granite walls don't necessarily help you much in those situations, nor if th

And you often have flooding situations as well, if you look at photos of Asheville. Granite walls don't necessarily help you much in those situations, nor if the roof is blown off or a tree crashes on it. And much of the US doesn't routinely have really high wind situations. Had a windstorm in my area last fall. A big mature spruce tree came down and managed to avoid hitting my house or neighbor's utility wires but house was fine. Wood construction is not uniquely susceptible to wind events relative to other things that tend to happen in severe storms. And, if you have a direct tornado hit, I'm not sure it really matters what your residential property is made of.