About the author  ⁄ Andrea M. La Greca

Andrea M. La Greca is a Project Consultant. (amlagreca@sgh.com)

STRUCTURE magazine published Structural Design and Coordination of ICC 500 Tornado Shelters in July 2020, summarizing when a storm shelter is required, design criteria, and lessons learned. The authors of the July 2020 article provide guidance on design criteria, including the significantly increased basic wind speed, the increased internal pressure coefficient which presumes a breach in the building envelope, the increased directionality factor, and increased minimum roof live load, among other design criteria. To supplement the information in the previous article and illustrate the implications of storm shelter design criteria, the Table summarizes and compares wind load design parameters for a fictitious building used conventionally or as a storm shelter.

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