Scott told Construction Dive that the idea came out of cooperation between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the ASCE following the Joplin tornado disaster in 2011, which killed 161 people along a 6-mile path and caused almost $3 billion in damages to the city of Joplin in southwest Missouri.
Powerful tornadoes have been in the news recently as well. Earlier this month, a massive twister ripped through western Kentucky, leaving thousands without homes and power and 77 dead, with fast enough wind speeds to rank anywhere between an EF3 and an EF5.
