What wind speed can a two story apartment building stand?

Question

I am moving into a two story apartment building that does not have a basement. There is a basement in the clubhouse but if I do not have time to get there I plan to go hide in the bathroom. What wind speed can a two story apartment building withstand? Will just windows be blown out in a tornado. We have a lot of severe weather and now I live in a basement apartment so I do not worry much. Are bathrooms and interior rooms reinforced with concrete? I also have a huge walk in closet but I do not if this would be safe because I think they are just regular walls.

Answer 1

Most category ef 2 and stronger tornados take roofs off of buildings. Most 3's and up split the building vertical corners and worse.

The criteria you are asking for depends on if the apartments you are moving to are constructed with wood frames, aluminum stud frames, masonry block, brick, or solid concrete. I cannot tell by your description, whether or not any rooms, halls, or closets are designated as saferooms.

For certified safe rooms, the city/municipality building department and/or fire department has to provide the premises with a written, sealed, dated, and signed document, that has to be in full view of the occupants of the building. If this document is not posted, follow the general emergency guidelines for tornados by FEMA, your local Emergency Management Agency, the Fire Department, and the National Oceanographic and Aeronautical Agency and National Weather Services, which all have downloadable guidelines for tornados, hurricanes, etc; preparedness, actions, supply kits, and so on. These groups are in support of better building frames in disaster-prone regions, and I have come up with a structural strap-netting method that helps building frames stick together in the disasters that match in purpose.