CENTRE —  In Alabama and in Cherokee County, there probably will be a next time. It’s in the numbers. From 1980 to 2010, Alabama was top among states for average number of tornado deaths. And the state was ranked third for the number of tornadoes per 10,000 square miles. 

How we prepare for the likelihood of more killer storms can save lives and property. 

“This is something we prepare for all the time,” said Beverly Daniel, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency.  

But emergency measures cannot prevent a house from collapsing. 

We were prepared on April 27, 2011, and a lot went right because of it, but in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes, county and state leaders are taking another hard look at how to prevent death and destruction. 

Efforts to build more shelters and expand warning systems are applauded, but enforcing a statewide building code that would reduce property damage and injuries is usually met with opposition at the local and state level. 

County Commission Chairman Melvyn Salter said the subject of creating a county building code has come up once since he took office in 2007—and it met with resistance. 

A building code would require that new structures meet basic construction standards and, to be effective, it would have to be enforceable. 

In 2010, state Rep. Greg Wren, a Montgomery Republican, sponsored a bill that created the Alabama Energy and Residential Codes Board. Last month, the board adopted the 2009 International Residential Code, which goes into effect Oct. 1 and will apply to new homes built in areas without local building codes, which is most of Alabama. 

Alabama is one of 11 states without a statewide building code. Sixty of the state’s 67 counties have no building code and only about 10 percent of the state’s cities have codes, according to the Tornado Recovery Action Committee. 

Wren is expected to introduce legislation next year that would require inspections of new homes and enforcement of the building standards. 

Homes in the paths of EF-4 and EF-5 tornadoes usually cannot withstand the powerful winds that can reach more than 200 miles per hour. But many buildings on the edge of these storms would hold up if a few construction steps were taken. The state estimates that basic fortification features would cost $500 to $1,000 on a 2,000-square-foot home. 

“People would say to me they think improving construction is a good idea but they don’t want the government telling them they have to do it,” Salter said. 

In its report on the state’s reaction to and recovery from the tornadoes on April 27, the Tornado Recovery Action Council of Alabama said: “In the wake of the deaths and unprecedented losses from April’s violent weather, it is imperative that the state use this event as a springboard to save lives in the future with better-fortified housing.” 

Salter said one misconception about a building code is that it would cover every structure someone builds. 

“It’s not about how you build your barn, it’s only for structures where people live,” he said. 

Better-built houses would reduce property loss and help prevent injuries during any severe storm or twister, Salter said, but the county seems unlikely to act on a building code until the Legislature makes it law.