Storm Center 7 Special: Inside a tornado-resistant house

Destructive tornadoes hit in April of 1974 in Xenia, Memorial Day in May of 2019, and most recently in Logan County in March of 2024 leaving millions of dollars in damage and some lost lives. A few benchmark days for tornadoes across the Miami Valley.

An EF-4 tornado hit a Trotwood neighborhood on Memorial Day of 2019. Fortunately, for those living in the neighborhood, their homes have either been repaired or replaced, but if there was a way to build a home that was a home that was safer for the next tornado would you buy it or build it?

Jim Powell said, “The spark really came from the tornado in late May 2019.” Powell saw the destruction of his community firsthand. Nearly 500 homes were damaged and 59 were destroyed as a powerful EF-4 tornado with winds of 170mph tore through Trotwood. His goal was to develop a tornado-resistant home.

“The start really came from the review of the general knowledge of steal constructed homes in the south,” Powell said. And, the first house is just the beginning.

“Several ideas came in and tried to perfect the prototype,” Powell said.

The house contains all the amenities of a modern house, but with added structural integrity.

“The skeletal structure being steel beams really was the start of making it safe. The steel roof and some of the guttering is really very strong,” Powell said.

The wood frame is thicker than a standard home. All to make this home capable of withstanding some of the strongest winds.

“The steel structure and roof, 150mph to 170mph. They are tornado resistant to that level,” Powell said.

Tornado resistant to 170mph, which is the same as an EF-4 tornado. That is the big selling point for Veronica Bedell-Nevels, the listing agent.

“When the tornado first happened, I had a couple of people who wanted a basement. They were fearful, their children were fearful, so we had to find them a specific type of ranch home with a basement,” Bedell-Nevels said.

However, this type of tornado-resistant housing is providing new housing options. But there is one issue – “I think that in this area, this is a home that people might not know they want,” Bedell-Nevels said.

Speaking with homeowners at the Trotwood Home Depot, that unknowing and differing levels of concern toward tornado safety are prevalent.

John Rindler said, “Not to me, no. I have had my house for 36 years and it is an old 200-year-old brick house, and it isn’t going to blow over anytime soon.”

According to Sandra Hall, “Tornado safety comes to my mind anytime, whether you are in a new home or an old home. It is safety that counts. Safety is what I value 24/7.”

As for Powell, he believes these homes would be an investment in your family’s safety.

“We thought that would be top of mind and people would want their family as safe as possible,” Powell said.

Of course, you don’t need a new home to find the safest space where you currently live. That is the lowest level in an interior room. Ideally in a basement if you have one.