How tornadoes shape building codes
Damaged farmhouse in North Okaw Township, Coles County following storms on December 10, 2021. Emily Hays/Illinois Newsroom
In May of 2011, a deadly F-5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, leveling a large swath of the town in a path of destruction. 158 people were killed and thousands more injured. After the deadly December 2021 outbreak of storms we saw last month, many people were looking back to Joplin more than a decade ago. What did we learn, and could deaths, like those six people who were killed at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville been prevented? Some are saying yes, if the industry had allowed certain safeguards to be put in place.
To discuss this, we were joined by a journalist who's been covering this issue and a professor of civil and environmental engineering.
GUESTS:
Christopher Flavelle
Reporter, The New York Times
Frank Lombardo
Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of IIllinois
New from me: Engineers know how to protect people against tornadoes. But the building industry has curbed efforts to get those changes into the building code. https://t.co/TwYvZsTM5Y
— Christopher Flavelle (@cflav) December 22, 2021
Prepared for web by Owen Henderson
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