Tornado proof home?

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Macroscien
Macroscien
QLD
6809 posts
QLD, 6809 posts
4 Mar 2012 11:12am
I wonder if such design exist for home to withstand moderate tornado..

I the face of hundred or thousand people killed every year _ in the most recent US - the most technically advanced states - the question is if that is the case of human error or just wind could be deadly.
We all enjoy wind effect at their moderate rate. What about the upper range.
My newly build house is build to Australian standard to withstand certain wind speed but possibly nobody know for sure unless the one in your life time tornado will land on Gold Coast.
On another hand how many of you willing to live the whole life in concrete bunker if that one cyclone is likely to arrive avery thirty years or so? Isn't is just better and cheaper to rebuild instead of building more expensive structure to withstand ?



highnoon
highnoon
VIC
602 posts
VIC, 602 posts
4 Mar 2012 6:03pm
called bomb shelters

theDoctor
theDoctor
NSW
5786 posts
NSW, 5786 posts
4 Mar 2012 7:23pm

since owning a t.v since christmas for the first time in ten years, I've become addicted to the marvel of double speak in commercial television...

in w.a at the moment there's this add claiming the concrete floor of your new to be built home is cyclone resistant.... the concrete floor....?

only they make it sound like its the whole structure
Simondo
Simondo
VIC
8025 posts
VIC, 8025 posts
4 Mar 2012 7:59pm
Yep, extra money buys a stronger home... Throw plenty of concrete at it, and no wind will blow it over...
Mobydisc
Mobydisc
NSW
9029 posts
NSW, 9029 posts
4 Mar 2012 8:07pm
It's probably impossible to build a reasonably priced house that can withstand the force of a full on tornado. So the question is to build something that will allow the residents to survive even if the structure does not, sort of like crumple zones, or just forget about it.

The other option is to live in a cheap house or a tent and just get out of the way when a natural disaster is looming in the knowledge you can rebuild for minimal cost.


The reality most people choose stuff like granite bench tops and a triple garage over boring stuff like a shelter that might save their life.

choco
choco
SA
4181 posts
SA, 4181 posts
4 Mar 2012 7:51pm
they should build their houses out of solid concrete
gibberjoe
gibberjoe
SA
956 posts
SA, 956 posts
4 Mar 2012 7:56pm

the biggest problems i see are the addon's like the deck or the bbq area. usually made of inferior material that is the first to disintergrate into the wind causing
missiles that destroy subsequent buildings in seconds. timber frames are made of pine nowdays instead of hardwood......gonskey. I see people crossing the window with masking tape, instead of screwing a decent 5 ply over windows. we will have similar problems here sooon enough. building standards have slipped.
TurtleHunter
TurtleHunter
WA
1675 posts
WA, 1675 posts
4 Mar 2012 6:17pm
theDoctor said...


since owning a t.v since christmas for the first time in ten years, I've become addicted to the marvel of double speak in commercial television...

in w.a at the moment there's this add claiming the concrete floor of your new to be built home is cyclone resistant.... the concrete floor....?

only they make it sound like its the whole structure

Lol There were a few pads left after cyclone Vance where the footings were cyclone rated but the rest got blown away or the caravans with cyclone tie downs. The tie downs are still there with the chassis but nothing else. But believe it or not (I am not convinced) the transportable houses use the weight of the concrete floor to stop the whole building blowing away with the whole thing just sitting on concrete biscuits. The verandas though have 1200 x 1200 footings when added so may hold the whole house down.
sn
sn
WA
2775 posts
sn sn
WA, 2775 posts
4 Mar 2012 11:56pm
I email with a family in Florida- they lost several houses over the years and got sick of rebuilding.
They now have a half buried concrete home- with a "disposable" house on top of it.
When the storm warning is on, the top hose is emptied to the lower bunker bit,power, water etc disconected and isolated between the two, the steel shutter slid across the stairwell opening and they sit it out. Self contained with back up genset, food, water medical supplies etc.
Last I heard, they hadnt lost the disposable part- just minor damage, while they ended up housing thier neighbours for a while.

stephen.
Sailhack
Sailhack
VIC
5000 posts
VIC, 5000 posts
5 Mar 2012 9:49am
Homes are generally engineered to a 'minimum' standard to comply with Aus regs & standards & also for economical reasons. Engineering can be ramped up so that the house is 'cyclone proof' but the dollar costs tend to turn most owners off.

I recently completed docs (for my ex-employer) for a 'composite precast concrete' panel house (concrete/foam/concrete), which are costly, but 'bomb-proof'...unfortunately, the panels were more for aesthetics & thermal mass...the roof was still designed to a minimum and there were a few walls of floor-ceiling glass to capture the view. If a cyclone ever came through (and none have been recorded in the past 150 years or more), there would only be some external walls left.
Stuthepirate
Stuthepirate
SA
3591 posts
SA, 3591 posts
5 Mar 2012 12:15pm
Here's some actual advice from highly qualified high wind building designers

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