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Last updated on Wednesday, June 5, 2013
(INDIANAPOLIS) - A group of researchers, including one from Indiana, has returned from examining the tornado damage in Moore, Oklahoma.
Rose-Hulman mechanical engineering professor Fred Haan was part of the group studying the affect of tornadoes and high winds to wood frame structures.
Haan says many people have the misconception that tornadoes are so powerful that they can't do anything to protect their home. He says they've found that many structures on the outer regions of the damage path would be more resilient to the storms if they had better connections between the roof and the wall and the wall and the foundation.
Haan says if insurance companies offered breaks in premiums for homes that have these better connections, more people would be likely to have them installed. He says the parts for improving the connections are rather cheap but some homeowners may not want to take on the expense of having them installed.
The group that traveled to Oklahoma was part of the National Science Foundation Rapid Response Grant for Exploratory Research. The group also studied the affects of tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri and Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2011.
Later this month, Haan will present a paper on tornado structural preparedness at the Americas Conference on Wind Engineering in Seattle.
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