Lessons from the aftermath

As Florida braces for an El Nino weather pattern that is predicted to mean more tornadoes for the Sunshine State this winter, UF engineering professor David Prevatt and his team are gearing up to study what happens to structures when the high winds hit. The team’s goal: to find better construction materials and techniques that make buildings safer for their inhabitants.

The team traveled to the Dallas area to examine the aftermath of a rash of deadly twisters that struck Christmas Day and, more recently, to Siesta Key near Sarasota, where two tornadoes struck in mid-January, killing two people.

“It’s up to us as civil engineers,” Prevatt said, “to try to help the community do much better in terms of … rebuilding.”