Tornadoes
by David B. South
 David B. South, President of the Monolithic Dome Institute |
Tornadoes sure tear up real estate! Not a year goes by that we don't suffer horrible devastation caused by tornadoes across the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Swirling winds that create a funnel cause tornadoes. The funnel moves across the land, sucking up debris and throwing it around. Sometimes, tornadoes carry debris for hundreds of miles. Tornadoes also depressurize buildings.
We laugh at the comment that trailer homes are tornado-bait. But the fact is, tornadoes can do more apparent damage to trailers because of the weight- to-size ratio. Generally, trailers are large size but light weight. This makes them easier to lift and toss around.
In times past, it's been extremely difficult to build buildings that could withstand tornado winds. Block walls are heavy in mass, but tornadoes can push with 100 to 400 pounds per square foot. Conventional walls cannot withstand that kind of pressure.
A Bible passage says, "Coneys are but feeble folks, but they live among the rock." That implies that the Coney, a small European rabbit, survives best by living in a jumbled rock pile in the mountains. Rocks protect the Coney from high winds and high heat.
We here at Monolithic make a quick leap between natural rock that falls off mountains and the artificial rock created when a Monolithic Dome is built.
The Monolithic Dome is literally a one-piece rock; its interior is hollowed so we can live within it.
Obviously, a Monolithic Dome would be even stronger if it had no windows or doors. However, we would not enjoy living in such a building.
But even if a tornado should take out a window or door, the main structure still survives. And occupants can safely remain within the dome's interior, especially in a room, such as a storage area, that is windowless.
More importantly, schools should be built using criteria that would make them able to withstand tornado winds. We see building codes creeping up, requiring slightly stronger buildings each time disaster strikes. This is necessary since conventional buildings are almost at their limits right now. That should not prevent us from requiring a quantum leap in the strength of buildings that can serve as disaster shelters and protect occupants, such as schools. In each state where tornadoes are prevalent, at least some of the buildings on a campus should be able to take a direct hit from a tornado.
It would, of course, be better if every building on campus provided what FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) calls near-absolute protection. If that isn't possible, certainly enough such structures should be constructed to protect a school's population. This is especially true when buildings providing protection can be built for the same or a lesser price than conventional structures.
Most of our lives are spent in the school of fish theory. Fish travel in large groups, or schools, for protection. Predators usually can snatch a few individual fish, but the school as a whole travels on. In many ways, we build our homes, schools and other structures the same way. Tornadoes only hit once in a while in scattered places. If we, as individuals, are not actually hit there is no disaster. We travel on in supposed safety.
We need to move away from the school of fish theory toward the wall of China theory. Chinese citizens built that wall to protect themselves from attacking Nomads. The decision was made that the general population should not be subject to predators and that a solution should be found. The wall became the solution.
Structures built for protection is not a new idea. It has just not been affordable in the past. With the advent of the Monolithic Dome, protective strength can be purchased at a conventional price. There is even a savings insured in the energy cost required to heat and cool the facility.
So the questions remain: Why don't we build homes that truly shelter and protect? Why don't we construct at least one building on every campus that can protect students from the direct hit of a tornado?
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