Things that you need to be concerned about in CA, MO, and other places that have hurricanes, tornadoes, and earth quakes: rafter ties and joist ties to keep the

Things that you need to be concerned about in CA, MO, and other places that have hurricanes, tornadoes, and earth quakes: rafter ties and joist ties to keep the roof from flying off and to make the framing a continuous unit. The framing needs to be bolted to the foundation. You dont want the thing to collapse in a 6.5 earthquake. I've had 2 houses that each survived a different one. Compare that with other parts of the world where a 6.5 leaves rubble for miles around. I would guess that bales of straw plus fireproof facing are more fire retardant than the wooden houses most of us live in.