NASHVILLE, TN. (WTVF) — Just after midnight on November 6 2018 an EF-2 tornado tore through the town of Christiana, Tennessee, leaving behind unbelievable damage and flipping a home off of its foundation. The homeowner, Angie Walker, 41, was killed during the storm.
As more people are moving to Middle Tennessee, meteorologists with the National Weather Service want new home builders to be aware at how their home is being constructed.
“Make no mistake TN is a very very active place for tornadoes," Krissy Hurley said, with the Nashville National Weather Service.
During an EF-2 tornado you typically see damage to a home's roof or the exterior walls. Last year in 2018, not only did we see an EF-2 flip the home in Christiana off it's foundation, another EF-2 tornado leveled a home in Clarksville.
“So in this case when we had the EF2 in Clarksville and Christiana, where you had substantial damage we knew that something was a little off," Hurley said.
According to Hurley, what was off was the foundations. “Those houses were not attached to the foundation as well as they could have been," Hurley said.
Hurley said their storm survey team found that the home in Clarksville appeared to only be attached to it's foundation in the corners. “You don’t want to see or come up on a house that is only bolted in on the corners or worse nailed into the foundation," Hurley said.
In a lawsuit filed by the family of Angie Walker, the family claims Ralf Baxter Construction did not properly embed the anchor bolts to the home's concrete footings.
Hurley said both home met the State of Tennessee's codes requirement to withstand 90 mph winds. These EF-2 tornadoes saw peak winds at 125 mph. "It did meet the state of TN code, however if you really want a house secured during an EF2 tornado you want to have the concrete filled and bolt screwed every 36 to 48 inches," Hurley said.
Being able to withstand an EF-2 tornado is something that developer Chris Robinson knows well. Robinson said a tornado moved through one of his Stonefield subdivision development in Mt. Juliet. “All of the homes were still standing all of the brick was on the house and foundations were in good shape," Robinson said.
Different methods used to secure a home to it's foundation comes down to money, but Robinson says this is not the place to cut costs.
"You can use a flimsy metal strap instead that is a simple strap that is folded over the top and nailed into it. Bolts will have a washer screwed around it and tightened into the plate itself," Robinson said.
Robinson's advice for new home builders is to get referrals and talk to previous home buyers. He also says check with your local codes department.
Be on the site check out your foundation make sure things are going in that should be in properly," Robinson said.
If you are worried about your homes sturdiness, there are steps you can take after your home is built.
"One of the cheaper solutions you can do is add hurricane clips to your roof," Hurley said.
We asked Hurley if our State's code of 90 mph winds were enough as more people are moving to Middle Tennessee.
“I think it would be smart to make sure we built to withstand something we call Dixie Tornado Alley," Hurley said.
After the EF-2 tornado in Chrisitana, Rutherford county adopted new codes for new homes. This increased the wind speed requirement from 90 mph to 115 mph.
We talked with the Kevin Walters the Communications Director with Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance he said the state's Fire Marshal's Office is currently working on adopting new codes, which would increase the wind speed requirement for the state to 115 mph.
