Commercial and Residential Building Performance during the May 20, 2013, Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30, Issue 2
Abstract
In 2013, there were 14 killer tornadoes in the United States that caused a total of 55 fatalities. The most severe tornado in this group was an Enhanced Fujita (EF) 5 storm that occurred on May 20 in Moore, Oklahoma. Because of the severity of this storm, a field investigation was undertaken to observe and document damaged commercial and residential structures so that a better appreciation of their structural and nonstructural performance could be developed. Both low-rise engineered commercial buildings and single-family homes were surveyed. Most of the commercial buildings sustained severe nonstructural damage and limited damage to the primary structural system. However, some instances of global structural collapse and local collapse of structural elements around building entrances were also observed in commercial buildings. Residential construction exhibited extensive damage to brick veneer and failure of garage doors and subsequent roof damage. These failures illustrate the importance of an adequate load path from the building façade back into the primary structural system. Furthermore, maintaining the integrity of the façade and roof systems is critical because failure of these systems was observed to change the loading and support conditions of key structural elements, which then precipitated damage to the primary structural system.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work has been sponsored in part by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Rapid Response Grant, and also has been supported by the UIUC CEE Research Experience for Undergraduates program. The authors would like to acknowledge logistical support and other helpful suggestions provided by Marc Levitan from NIST and Rose Grant from State Farm.
References
ASCE. (2005). “Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.”, Reston, VA.
ASCE. (2013). “ASCE/SEI team compiles valuable wind load information following Oklahoma Tornado.” ASCE news, 〈http://www.asce.org/ascenews/featured.aspx?id=23622326092&blogid=25769815007〉 (May 7, 2013).
BIA (Brick Industry Association). (2012). “Brick veneer/wood stud walls.” Technical notes on brick construction 28, Reston, VA.
BOCA (Building Officials and Code Administrators International). (1993). National building code, Country Club Hills, IL.
Businesswire. (2013). “AMF hosting nationwide event benefitting tornado victims.” 〈http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130603006371/en/AMF-Hosting-Nationwide-Event-Benefitting-Tornado-Victims#.U3UzJVc-d8 G〉 (Jun. 3, 2013).
CABO (Council of American Building Officials). (1995). One and two family dwelling code, Falls Church, VA.
Cannon, J. G. (2013). “Employees say final farewell to Moore Medical Center destroyed in May 20 tornado.” NewsOK, 〈http://newsok.com/employees-say-final-farewell-to-moore-medical-center-destroyed-in-may-20-tornado/article/3856393〉 (Jun. 26, 2013).
Choi, Y.-H., and LaFave, J. M. (2004). “Performance of corrugated metal ties for brick veneer wall systems.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 202–211.
Eligon, J. (2013). “A familiar roar, then sadness and resolve.” New York Times, 〈http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/us/a-familiar-roar-then-sadness-and-resolve-in-oklahoma.html?_r=0〉 (May 21, 2013).
FEMA. (1999). “Midwest tornadoes of May 3, 1999.”, Washington, DC.
FEMA. (2012). “Spring 2011 tornadoes: April 25–28 and May 22.”, Washington, DC.
Graettinger, A. J., et al. (2014). “Tornado damage assessment in the aftermath of the May 20th 2013 Moore Oklahoma tornado.”.
Grenoble, R. (2013). “Moore Medical Center destroyed by Oklahoma tornado; no patients, staff injured.” Huffington Post, 〈http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/moore-medical-center-tornado-lucky-injuries_n_3314585.html〉 (May 21, 2013).
Haan, F., Jr., Balaramudu, V., and Sarkar, P. (2010). “Tornado-induced wind loads on a low-rise building.” J. Struct. Eng., 106–116.
ICC (International Code Council). (2012). “International residential code for one- and two-family dwellings.” Falls Church, VA.
Kuligowski, E. D., Lombardo, F. T., Phan, L. T., and Levitan, M. L. (2014). “Technical investigation of the May 22, 2011, tornado in Joplin, Missouri.”, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD.
Kuligowski, E. D., Phan, L. T., and Levitan, M. L. (2013). “Preliminary reconnaissance of the May 2013, Newcastle-Moore tornado in Oklahoma.”, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD.
LaFave, J. M., and Reneckis, D. (2005). “Structural behavior of tie connections for residential brick veneer construction.” TMS J., 23(1), 105–119.
MBMA (Metal Building Manufacturers Association). (2012). Metal building systems manual, Cleveland, OH.
Mehta, K. C. (2013). “Development of the EF-scale for tornado intensity.” J. Disaster Res., 8(6), 1031–1041.
MSJC (Masonry Standards Joint Committee). (2011). “Building code requirements for masonry structures.”, American Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
NCDC (National Climatic Data Center). (2012). “State of the climate: Tornadoes for annual 2011.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 〈http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/tornadoes/2011/13〉 (Dec. 1, 2013).
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2014a). “Annual severe weather report summary 2013.” Dept. of Commerce, 〈http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/monthly/2013_annual_summary.html〉 (May 7, 2014).
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2014b). “Annual U.S. killer tornado statistics 2013.” Dept. of Commerce, 〈http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/fatalmap.php?yr=2013〉 (Nov. 3, 2013).
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2014c). “The tornado outbreak of May 20, 2013.” Dept. of Commerce, 〈http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-20130520〉 (Oct. 14, 2013).
NWS (National Weather Service). (2013). “The great plains tornado outbreak of May 3-4, 1999 storm A information.” 〈http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-19990503-storma〉 (Oct. 14, 2013).
OEM (Oklahoma Dept. of Emergency Management). (2013). “OEM, FEMA release storm damage assessment totals.” 〈http://www.ok.gov/OEM/Emergencies_&_Disasters/2013/20130518_Severe_Weather_Events/20130527_OEM_FEMA_Release_Storm_Damage_Assessment_Totals.html〉 (May 8, 2013).
Prevatt, D. O., Coulbourne, W., Graettinger, A. J., Pei, S., Gupta, R., and Grau, D. (2013). Joplin, Missouri, tornado of May 22, 2011: Structural damage survey and case for tornado-resilient building codes, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Rauber, R., Walsh, J., and Charlevoix, D. (2012). Severe and hazardous weather: An introduction to high impact meteorology, 4th Ed., Kendall Hunt.
Reneckis, D., and LaFave, J. M. (2005). “Analysis of brick veneer walls on wood frame construction subjected to out-of-plane loads.” Constr. Build. Mater., 19(6), 430–447.
VOA (Voice of America). (2013). “Deadly US twister hits ‘Tornado Alley’.” 〈http://www.voanews.com/content/deadly-us-twister-hit-tornado-alley/1665431.html〉 (May 21, 2013).
WSEC (Wind Science and Engineering Center). (2006). “A recommendation for an enhanced Fujita scale.” Rep. Submitted to the National Weather Service and Other Interested Users, Revision 2, Wind Science and Engineering Center, Texas Tech Univ., Lubbock, TX.
Yu, W. W., and LaBoube, R. A. (2010). Cold-formed steel design, 4th Ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 191–199.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30 • Issue 2 • April 2016
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 19, 2014
Accepted: Nov 9, 2014
Published online: Dec 29, 2014
Discussion open until: May 29, 2015
Published in print: Apr 1, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.