High-tech panels could protect against hurricane force winds

Panels for a new high-tech shelter created at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have passed the National Storm Shelter Association’s tornado threat test.
In the NSSA test, 15-pound two-by-fours fired from a pressure cannon were unable to penetrate the panels, made of recycled materials, in a dozen attempts. The wooden missiles hit the panels at 100 mph, the speed at which projectiles typically exit a tornado funnel spinning at more than 200 mph. Such a storm would rate EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale and be capable of leveling well-built homes.