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Tornado Proof House offers hope to weather-ravaged families

Tornado Proof House

For people dwelling in the American Midwest and other tornado-prone areas of the world, extreme weather is a harsh reality that they have just to live with. While authorities and weather departments have spent millions on warning systems to try and predict the occurrence of tornadoes before they hit, every year hundred of innocent lives are still lost to twisters because of collapsing houses and air-borne debris from destroyed buildings. One of the most prominently suggested solutions to the phenomenon is having tornado bunkers and underground shelters built-in houses but even they do not guarantee 100% protection when twisters hit and are not effective at minimizing the loss of property. The architects at 10 Design have tried to come up with a specially-created building that may offer residents of these areas a sturdier and more protective living solution.

The prototype Tornado Proof House looks to counter extreme weather via a clever mechanism that allows the building to change its position to avoid wind resistance and resultant damage. High-tech mechanisms like hydraulic levers allow the building to evade tornados and resist flood water from entering the premises. The hydraulics on the house are automatically activated when they detect high-velocity winds approaching and signal the mechanism to begin the process of locking the roof and pulling the house underground making it wind- and water-proof.

The building will be geared to automatically reemerge from the underground shelter once weather conditions improve. The building will rely on sensors put throughout the community to keep track of weather and get into protection mode as soon as the emergency strikes.

The high-performance house will be crafted out of Kevlar with proper insulation between the skins while the exterior surface of the wall will be fitted with solar cells that would automatically flex to capture maximum sunlight while letting natural light filter inside. The design house also plans to experiment with photocatalytic coatings on the outer skin of the house as well as carbon nanotubes that could filter toxins, air-borne impurities and capture CO2 from the air to power the hydraulics.

Via: Evolo

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