anotherlimey

I'm kinda glad I live in a hurricane zone and not tornado alley:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6628613.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6510103.stm

Deedee13

i just dont get it !!! Why oh WHY are houses not made of brick here? I just looked at all the pics and seems to me that the brick is still standing and the cardboard boxes are all in ruins on the floor! WHY????

TruBrit

money money money

Deedee13

is that the only reason?

Jaxbar

Cost defintely is an issue, however brick buildings wont always withstand a direct hit from a tornado. There are loads of articles that describe brick buildings being destroyed.

When brick buildings collapse they are more dangerous to the inhabitants as they collapse into the basement, whereas timber blows away or stays on top allowing people in the basement to escape.

Sorry I cant find where I learned that.

AdobePinon

Deedee, don't put too much stock in brick buidings. This is the result of a small F2 (relatively weak compared to the F4/5 ones in Kansas) tornado in Birmingham:

CaliforniaBride

Same for earthquakes. People don't seem to realize the damage that flying bricks do to people.

another bloody yank

This is what happens when a tornado hits a city built of brick (St. Louis cyclone of 1896)

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/count...e-autoplay.htm

Hiro11

This was one of the most massive tornados in history. It's estimated to have been a mile and a half wide at the base. It utterly destroyed the entire town, it looks like a bomb went off:


http://youtube.com/watch?v=zRCZxsoB1OI

penguinsix

In some places, bricks are specifically banned dues to seismic conditions, such as the earthquakes in San Francisco. In others there is a lack of sufficient clay such that bricks are quite expensive and the ones you can buy are not really the best quality. Bricks also can make the house colder, which is great if you live in the heat, but sucks if your are up north.

And as others have pointed out, in a big tornado, it really doesn't matter if it is bricks or wood--your house is going down.

franc11s

Brick built structures did and would have withstood this tornado.

The UK picture ripped off the wooden roofs.

I read somewhere it is absolutely ONLY to do with MONEY. They build "shoddy" wooden frames and then "stick" plastic / wooden siding on the side. They even build a single brick layer around the shoddy wooden frame. It's PATHETIC.

They choose to build/buy CHEAP because the chances of being hitting by a Tornado are slim - it's an insurance risk. Sad fact but true.

I am not convinced, that building a breeze block frame with proper "ties" to a brick outer skin is a lot more expensive given the cost of wood now and cheap labor costs. It's also a nicer house to live in, cheaper to heat/cool etc.,

END OF RANT.... Long live the "True" brick house..

franc11s

True, but Tornado's are also rare up there and they DO build expensive "wooden frames", properly tied down and flexible - to withstand said earthquakes.

Not true that brick houses are cold. Properly insulated that are better than wooden frames.

Pollyana

http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/...ornadoaerials/
has some scary pics too. Just nothing left.

Hiro11

I don't think so. A direct hit from an F5 tornado is going to destroy anything in its path, witness the any picture from this disaster. Brick churches, the brick high school and the brick dfowntown were all shredded.

Luckly direct tornado hits on buildings are fairly rare and F5s hits are extremely rare (less than .1% of all tornados). This is a once-every-forty-years type situation.

As already pointed out, there's a huge difference between an F2 and an F5. Huge difference.

Not sure what to make of your rant. There are many local building codes to take car eof what you're talking about. For example, Florida and the Gulf Coast already require concrete block and have very restrictive building codes. the damage you see there is typically from older homes. Also, it's basically impossible to build a tornado-proof structure for anything approaching what your average person can afford.

Thrillcekr

You'd be correct. I've lived in tornado alley for most of my life and I can tell you that, even a tornado much weaker than the one that struck Greensburg can flatten a brick home. I've seen it and helped clean up the mess many times. Brick is slightly more resistant to small flying debree outside of the tornado's path but if a brick home is directly in the path of the tornado it will be ripped to bits just like any other home.

Think of it like this. A hundred year old oak tree with roots several feet deep in the ground is much stronger than a home constructed of bricks and mortar. Tornados commonly take trees like this, rip them out of the ground, and toss them hundreds of feet like they were twigs. A clash between a tornado and a brick home is no contest. There's no additional safety there believe me.