why do most people in the USA build they house out of wooden material rather then stone in the tornado belt?

Question

I see the destruction and cannot understand why homes are build out of that material, I also see that resident and city in florida and the south east do not seem to have huricane houses construction code for the homes buildings there either .I find that strange

Answer 1

Wood is cheaper. Sometimes people fight higher building codes because they don't want the government forcing them to spend extra money on a disaster that may never happen. People are just willing to take the chances to save some money. Then there is the rule of diminished returns. After a point, the extra cost of reinforcing a structure so far exceeds the probability of a storm that powerful hitting it that it is not worth the investment. The Superdome in New Orleans was built to withstand 140 mph winds. When Katrina hit with 150 mph winds it tore the roof off. But they figured it was highly unlikely that would ever happen and it would have cost a lot more to make the roof just a little stronger. Trying to build for winds over 140 mph is considered a waste of money because they are so rare. Crazy but true.

Answer 2

Wood homes are less expensive and easier to build. It is also a matter of playing the odds. Tornadoes usually only hit in a confined area and are of varying strengths. Even a stone or brick house wouldn't survive a direct hit by a strong tornado. For absolute safety, you would need to move underground.
Same for hurricanes. Some homes are built to withstand stronger storms than others, but a direct hit by a powerful storm is hard to prepare for.

Answer 3

Well, stone is prohibitively expensive, and tornadoes and hurricanes can throw those around just as easily as wood. That would do more damage than wooden materials. There ARE codes for buildings in hurricane areas, but if a hurricane hits hard, no code is going to help keep your house whole.

Answer 4

Tornado- and hurricane-proof construction would be so expensive that, if it were required, the Gulf and Southern Atlantic coasts and the Great Plains would be nearly deserted.
What bothers me more, however, is why the Federal Government is expected to rebuild infrastructure, and private housing and business, over and over again, especially in areas that are known to flood regularly.

Answer 5

they vary