#2 Houses in hurricane and tornado prone areas should be made to be aerodynamic. Eaves that hang over the outer walls are an invitation for high winds to lift the roof away from the rest of the house. Flat outer walls present obstacles to high winds so they might be flattened. But more rounded walls would allow the wind to pass around them. This is not rocket science but you might have noticed that rockets are not made in the shape of square or rectangular boxes. They wouldn't get far if they were. Instead, they are long round tubes with pointed tips to facilitate their movement through the air. Boats and ships are not made in the shape of square or rectangular boxes because it would take a lot more energy to move them through the water if they were. Instead they are made with narrow bows and hulls that gradually widen toward the stern so as to lessen resistance as they move through the water.
OK. It's easy for me to write all this since I live in California and we don't get tornadoes or hurricanes. Instead we get earthquakes and wild fires. The state has laws mandating that structures are built to withstand earthquakes. These standards are at least partially effective. We don't allow brick houses which is kind of a shame because they look so cool, better than stucco. But stucco is better in an earthquake. We don't do as well with fires but at least wooden "shake" roofs are no longer popular.
As a society, we've been living with these types of hazards for a couple hundred years now. It's about time we figured it out. |