The vicious circle of tornadoes

By Kenneth D. McClintock

This spring, a record number of tornadoes has killed a record number of victims, not only in the traditional tornado-alley of the midwest, but in the south and eastern seaboard of the United States, as well. As always, the President shows up to view the damage and hug a few victims and FEMA provides not only immediate assistance but billions of dollars to reconstruct that which has been lost.

In Puerto Rico, FEMA doesn't allow flood victims to reconstruct in floodable, low-lying areas. The federal agency also requires that destroyed wooden homes be rebuilt in concrete. However, those common-sensical rules in Puerto Rico are lost when FEMA alllows wooden homes to be reconstructed in wood back in the tornado-alleys of the nation. As a result, property insurance policy-holders throughout the nation pay for that mistake.

This year's record-high toll---in damages and deaths---should lead FEMA and the Federal government to do away with penny-wise, pound-fooloish building codes and start requiring rebuilding in concrete and steel, rather than wood, unsupported brick, cardboard roof shingles, superficial stucco and cardboard.

While it is more costly initially to build in weather-insulated concrete and steel, in the long-run, lower insurance premium rates and lower FEMA expenditures will save money, and the sturdier construction will save lives.

In Puerto Rico, every meteorological disaster has strengthened Puerto Rico against future disasters, and that strengthening is resulting in lower FEMA expenditures, lower insurance premiums and fewer lives lost in hurricanes and other weather-related events. In Puerto Rico, we don't use wood; we use concrete. In Puerto Rico we don't use unsupported brick, but concrete-reinforced walls that may be decorated with brick. In Puerto Rico, we don't use decorative stucco to hide the fact that there's only wood and cardboard behind; we use concrete plaster to hide reinforced concrete bricks or poured concrete walls. In Puerto Rico, we don't replace wooden roofs every ten or twenty years nor replace cardboard shingles every few years; we build concrete roofs that never require replacing.

The richest nation in the world should start investing as much in structurally-sound construction as its poorest territory invests.