Horrific.
A wall that size cannot possibly survive a big wind.
Cannot.
A candle factory was completely leveled. Dozens dead. Many still missing.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kentucky-candle-factory-ha...
Any seismic regulation would've probably completely blasted a building where roof is not held in place in tension. In general, remains seem to lack any continuous reinforcement in between panels. Only flimsy fasteners held them together.
USA is a land of contradictions, and its building codes are no exception.
They write 100 pages sections of building codes regarding fire resistance, down to mandating which kinds of doorknobs can be installed, and then allow people building stuff from plywood.
Same for building in hurricane/tornado areas. It's absolutely nobrainer how to build buildings capable of withstanding any imaginable hurricane.
But instead of just banning anything not built from reinforced concrete, or steel, they keep trying to "rationalise" building methods which would still have zero chances surviving a tornado, even if laden with every reinforcement imaginable.
Most buildings are in this category, and it make sense. This is not where the fault lies.
Building something to specifically withstand 200mph wind is NOT reasonable. Hurricanes force wind by comparison starts at 74mph and decays quickly inland.
A properly engineered reinforced concrete building would easily withstand that.
Could that be changing as the climate changes?
Like seeing 500-year floods several times in 20 years.
You could build a building like a tank, but it would price most people out of the market. Doors and windows in that structure won't be able to withstand the obscene wind forces however, so everyone inside will still likely be killed by the airborne debris, anyhow. You really wouldn't have time to install steel shutters on the windows and bar all the doors like you'd need to. But hey, the building will remain standing, so that's a win, right?
Instead of all of that, just requiring a small emergency shelter in each home might actually keep the occupants alive.
In particular, the hundred-ish year old design called a Quonset Hut is partly designed for this wind-deflecting purpose.
At that square footage, the semi-circle arc (which is its main wind-deflecting feature) would have to be gigantically tall. It doesn't sound like a feasible geometry at that scale.
[1] http://varnumcontinentals.org/2016/04/the-quonset-hut-a-rhod...
https://www.computerworld.com/article/2497174/tornadoes-and-...
> A wall that size cannot possibly survive a big wind.
> Cannot.
A reinforced concrete should've been easily capable of withstanding a hurricane.
First thing I see is that roof was not attached to anything reinforcing in the wall, or columns.
It seems it solely relied on its weight, which was easily overwhelmed by wind, to keep it in place.
Hurricanes are kinda wimpy, though. Their main claim to fame is sustained winds. A tornado can pack winds pushing 300 mph. Good luck building a warehouse that can take a direct hit from that.
A Category 5 hurricane generally has wind speeds less than 200 mph.
EF5 tornadoes start at 200 mph, and can be well over 300 mph.
Could you design a warehouse (note: not a small storm shelter, but a warehouse, which by definition needs to have very large interior open spaces) that would withstand a 300 mph wind? Maybe.
The budget would be well beyond the reach of any non-military client, though.
The next question is: do they have stricter building codes in Florida, such that this storm wouldn't have knocked down warehouses?
More, a lot more, to the point where any building code that saves you would just make it not economical to build anything
It's much more likely to be hit by a hurricane in Florida? It's also unpractical to build everything to be able to withstand the off chance there's a tornado. You essentially need bunkers.
Better question here is if there are adequate alarm and evacuation plans.
For comparison, a cat 5 hurricane is 157 mph or higher. An EF-5 tornado is 200 mph and up. The highest recorded wind speed is about 300 mph.
Disproved.
Will add that the weather affecting this particular facility was extreme by any measure but most facilities that occupy the tornado alley should seriously consider this. My facility had a shelter in place policy in case of inclement weather which basically means, everyone(800-1k people?) huddle into 4, 6 person bathrooms.
Amazon Leased the building I worked in, so kind of removes them from blame of structural failure, but maybe not he decision to occupy the building during known severe weather.
By comparison, I think it is probably fairly straightforward to make office buildings that can stay reasonably intact even with a direct hit. Much more structure to work with.