Retrofit Florida Homes Passed The Tornado Test

For about eight years, local organization Rebuild Northwest Florida has been retrofitting homes to make them better able to withstand hurricanes. Until a few months ago, the group’s work had never been tested. On Feb. 15 and 23, a pair of EF3 tornadoes ripped through the Century and Ferry Pass areas, and the 135 Rebuild homes in the tornadoes’ paths underwent a trial by wind. When the severe weather passed, all of the homes were still standing. "Fifteen of them were direct hits," Garrett Walton, chief executive officer of Rebuild Northwest Florida, said of the homes. "None of them were destroyed, and none of them were rendered uninhabitable."