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Homes can be built to avoid wind damage, but no codes or inspectors in some rural counties

By Tim Omarzu April 24, 2016 1 min read

Photo Gallery

DEADLY TORNADOES:Five years after storms killed hundreds across the Southeast, scientists hope lessons learned can save lives in the future

An aerial photo shows the destruction in Ringgold, Ga., on April 28, 2011, after storms ravaged the region.

Emergency personnel perform search-and-rescue efforts at the former BP gas station in downtown Ringgold, Ga., on April 28, 2011, after a tornado touched down.

Teresa Christian takes Jake, a cadaver dog, through Village Green apartment complex on April 28, 2011 in Trenton, Ga., after three tornados touched down in Dade County.

Charlie Hester, Walt Shrader, Janet Hester and Andy Page, from left, look through debris at the Village Green Apartments on April 28, 2001, in Trenton, Ga. Page lived in one of the upper units that were destroyed when three tornados touched down in Dade County.

Andy Page holds Ellie on April 28, 2011, after locating her in what used to be his Village Green apartment in Trenton, Ga. Page managed to get some of his cats out, but could not find Ellie after his apartment was destroyed by a tornado.

Andy Page holds his pet carrier on April 28, 2011, after locating his cat in what used to be his Village Green apartment in Trenton, Ga. Page managed to get some of his cats out, but could not find Ellie after his apartment was destroyed by a tornado.

Michael Lockwood {CQ} moves some debris to clear a path through his parents' home in Ringgold, Ga., on Thursday. The neighborhood along Cherokee Valley Rd. in Ringgold, Ga., was laid to waste by a tornado Wednesday night.

The Hemphill {CQ} family sifts through the wreckage of a home of a relative Thursday afternoon. The neighborhood along Cherokee Valley Rd. in Ringgold, Ga., was laid to waste by a tornado Wednesday night.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry - The Chattanooga Times Free Press. May 2, 2011. Emergency personnel drive past a crushed semi and demolished home while working in a Bridgeport, Al., neighborhood which was severely damaged after last weeks string of deadly tornadoes reeked havoc on the tri-state area.

Len Williams, left, and Clint Wilkie, right, volunteers
with Covenant Presbyterian Church in East Brainerd, hold up an American flag
they found during recent storm cleanup efforts. The flag had draped the
casket of Catoosa County Tax Commissioner Sandra Self's grandfather, World
War I veteran Floyd A. Connolly, in 1954.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/13/16. Mark Warner with "enrGies Operations" uses a computer to check the status of a fixed wing autonomous drone he is flying on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 to photograph damage patterns from a tornado that formed two weeks ago near Priceville, Alabama. The team is working in conjunction with the Southeast Vortex Campaign in performing research to support a hypothesis that surface friction and topography play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/13/16. Mark Warner, left, and Ken Harvey with "enrGies Operations", prepare to fly a fixed wing autonomous drone on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 to photograph damage patterns from a tornado that formed two weeks ago near Priceville, Alabama. The team is working in conjunction with the Southeast Vortex Campaign in performing research to support a hypothesis that surface friction and topography play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/13/16. Ken Harvey with "enrGies Operations", monitors the status of a fixed wing autonomous drone on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 that his company is using to photograph damage patterns from a tornado that formed two weeks ago near Priceville, Alabama. The team is working in conjunction with the Southeast Vortex Campaign in performing research to support a hypothesis that surface friction and topography play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/13/16. Ken Harvey with "enrGies Operations", launches a fixed wing autonomous drone on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 to photograph damage patterns from a tornado that formed two weeks ago near Priceville, Alabama. The team is working in conjunction with the Southeast Vortex Campaign in performing research to support a hypothesis that surface friction and topography play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 4/13/16. Brandon Reed, left, and Mark Warner with "enrGies Operations", repair a fixed wing autonomous drone after crashing it at takeoff on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. They are using it to photograph damage patterns from a tornado that formed two weeks ago near Priceville, Alabama. The team is working in conjunction with the Southeast Vortex Campaign in performing research to support a hypothesis that surface friction and topography play a role in the formation of tornadoes.

A truck lies overturned next to the pavement in the neighborhood along Cherokee Valley Rd. in Ringgold, Ga., on Thursday. The area was laid to waste by a tornado Wednesday night.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry – The Chattanooga Times Free Press. May 2, 2011. Crosses mark the former home where a Bridgeport, Al., resident was killed off of Co.Rd. 255 after last weeks string of deadly tornadoes reeked havoc on the tri-state area.

Build strong

Here are some changes enforced in Moore, Okla., to beef up residential construction on the advice of structural engineering experts at the University of Oklahoma:› Roof sheathing must be attached with nails that are at least 2.5 or 3 inches long every 4 inches along roof edges› Roof framing shall be 16 inches on center.› Hurricane clips or framing anchors required on all rafter-to-wall connections.› Nails for wall sheathing must be 2.5 to 3 inches in length and used every 4 inches along edges.› Garage doors shall be rated to 135 mph wind or above.› Exterior wall studs shall be 16 inches on center.Source: City of Moore, Okla.

Shelter from the Storm

While Moore, Okla., has beefed up its building codes to make homes tornado-resistant, officials there stop short of saying the regulations will save lives.“To save a life, we always recommend that you go into a storm shelter,” said Moore’s Community Development Director Elizabeth Jones. “We are strong believers in storm shelters in Moore, Okla. In fact, we get applications for storm shelters every day.”Storm shelters also have become popular in the Chattanooga area since April 2011, when deadly storms and tornadoes tore communities apart and claimed dozens of lives.“What we’re seeing, especially in these custom homes around [Lake Gunterville], is a safe room that’s built in the house,” said Scottsboro building inspector Rick Baird. “A lot of them, it’ll be a big bathroom. It’ll have concrete walls, a concrete ceiling.”“You get to thinking about it, that’s pretty smart,” Baird said. “Because if your house blows down and you’re in the 8-foot-by-8-foot room, it’d be nice to have a bathroom.”

After Moore, Okla., got hammered by its third monster tornado in 13 years, Mayor Glenn Lewis had had enough.

He pushed to make Moore the first U.S. city to beef up its building code for tornadoes and require new homes to withstand 135 mph winds – in the same way California homes are built to ride out earthquakes and Florida homes must resist hurricanes. That came after an EF5 category tornado in 2013 killed two dozen residents in the Oklahoma City suburb, causing $2 billion in damage.

“Our mayor was very adamant that we needed to do more to protect our residents,” said Moore’s Community Development Director Elizabeth Jones, whose department handles building inspections and permits.