After surveying the damage from Friday’s twister, [Lead National Weather Service Forecaster in Wichita, Bradley] Ketcham tweeted concerns. “New construction (2 years old) was shoddy at best. Subfloors were bolted, but walls were just nailed straight into the top of the subfloor. Causing the whole house to lift off like a rocket,” the tweet reads. Butler County Building Inspector Jay Cook says the exterior walls of a home have to be bolted down into the concrete and interior walls just need to be nailed. “The codes become more strict as time goes. However, the material that is used is not necessarily as good quality-wise as it may have been 50-60 years ago,” Cook added. “Tornadoes are not respecters of codes. They are just going to take what they take.” He says the homes he’s seen destroyed by this tornado, were all up to code.
Source: KAKE – News
