COLUMBIA, MO. -- During a tornado, you might think a large big-box store like Wal-Mart or Home Depot would be a safe place to seek shelter.

This spring’s Joplin tornado destroyed a Home Depot building and killed at least 7 people when its walls collapsed.

A team of engineers working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, traveled to Joplin and studied the remains of several buildings in the aftermath of the May 22 tornado.  Those engineers decided a common construction method called “tilt-up wall” could need tougher building codes.  University of Missouri Civil Engineering Ph.D. Candidate Aaron Saucier is studying “tilt-up” construction.  Saucier said, overall the method is safe, but it could use some improvements.

Saucier said, “The roof supports or holds the walls upright.  The walls support the roof.  If you lose one, you lose both.  That’s what happened in Joplin, of course.”

Saucier said tougher building codes requiring stronger roof to wall connections could result in less tornado damage in the future.

You can find the “tilt-up” construction method in stores, warehouses and even some schools across the country.  Even though the method meets or exceeds most building codes, engineers said the design can be deadly under certain circumstances.

Building Regulations Supervisor with the Columbia Public Works Department John Sudduth said the “tilt-up” construction method needs further study.

Sudduth said, “There are a lot of different methods to build a building.  As long as they are designed properly to withstand our loads, our wind loads, our snow loads and those types of things, then most of them work out very well unless there is something very unusual that happens.”

Sudduth said when you consider the buildings that were destroyed by the Joplin tornado there are very few buildings with a design that can withstand those types of extreme conditions.