Central Texans received another cruel reminder of the devastating power of tornadoes last week with news that last month’s twister in Round Rock caused $32 million worth of destruction while leveling 13 homes and damaging nearly 700 others.
And that was just in Round Rock. In all, several tornadoes in the same weather system damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes in Williamson County and more than 100 homes in Bastrop County.
Extensive property damage, coupled with increasingly severe weather patterns in Texas, raises important questions about whether the state is holding builders to construction standards strong enough to endure extreme weather. We urge Central Texas municipal leaders to review their building standards and, if needed, lobby the state legislature to give them authority to strengthen them.
Texas sets minimum standards for construction based on international building codes that determine what types of materials can be used for safety and durability. Texas cities can choose to adopt these codes, but it’s not mandatory. Some builders exceed these standards, some don’t. In recent years, in Texas and nationally, the powerful construction and building industry has lobbied against enhanced safety requirements, citing high costs that would be passed on to buyers.
The New York Times reported in December that the industry has worked specifically to weaken tornado standards in the international building codes, which Texas and most other states have adopted as their own. Former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate described a perennial debate between safety advocates pushing better design to protect against disasters, and developers who want reduced red tape and costs.
“There’s a lot of building codes in this country that are based on hope: ‘We just hope it won’t be that bad,’” Fugate said. “And people die.”
Austin and Round Rock both adhere to the international guidelines, last updated in 2018. They require builders to construct single-family homes, duplexes and most townhomes to withstand wind speeds of 115 mph. The tornado that roared through Round Rock in March clocked 135 mph. Many of the homes damaged or destroyed were built in the 1980s and 1990s, when the city’s construction standard for wind gusts was just 90 mph.
Mark Remmert, Round Rock’s chief building official, told our board that codes in Texas are vastly improved since the days when builders were allowed to pack styrofoam inside the corners of houses to fortify against punishing winds. Under today’s standards, builders must use full sheets of plywood, metal straps or powerful synthetic materials for the same purpose.
Even if a Texas city wanted to adopt building standards with stronger wind protection requirements than the international code, it probably couldn’t, Round Rock building officials told our board. A bill championed by the Texas building industry and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2019 prohibits cities from banning or restricting certain building materials if approved for use in the international code. The industry argued that letting builders choose from a wider array of materials could lower costs for homebuyers, a concern in today’s skyrocketing Central Texas real estate market.
“When you take some of these tools out of the toolbox for builders, it really starts severely impacting affordability,” Bradley Pepper, the director of government affairs for the Greater Houston Builders Association, told Community Impact Newspapers when the bill became law.
As a result of that 2019 law, the city of Lubbock was forced to take its strict rules on household gas tubing — aimed at preventing fires — off the books.
“It really restricts a city’s ability to add additional standards,” Round Rock Planning Director Brad Wiseman told us, noting that homes with brick or stone exteriors fared better than those made of wood or other materials.
Prior to the 2019 law, Round Rock and some other Texas cities required a significant amount of masonry to be included in new home construction, but state law now prohibits those standards, Wiseman said.
While Central Texas is not historically at high risk for tornadoes, longtime residents are rightly wary of their destructive power. In May 1997, a tornado with winds exceeding 260 mph devastated the small Williamson County community of Jarrell, causing 27 deaths,12 injuries and $40 million in property damage. Between 1991 and 2010, Texas had an average of 155 tornadoes per year – the highest number in the nation. Kansas was second with 96.
State and local lawmakers should ask themselves if they are unnecessarily forsaking safety to appease developers who want to save money on construction costs. With a booming construction industry and strong economy, Texas should be able to produce affordable homes that don’t skimp on safety.
Austin American-Statesman
