The wild card, though, is a tornado.
"Let's face it," Mr. Franks said, "the only tornado-proof building would be one underground."
While building standards in hurricane zones plan for 150-mph winds, the highest recorded wind speed on Earth was double that. A portable Doppler radar measured the wind speed of a 1999 tornado in Oklahoma at 302 mph. Wind speeds of the tornado that severely damaged parts of Fort Worth in 2000 were estimated at the time to be no higher than 112 mph by National Weather Service officials.
All numbers are estimates because good data isn't available about ground-level wind speeds in tornadoes. The record speed was measured at about 100 feet off the ground.
David Platten, senior principal at Walter P. Moore, the structural engineering firm for the Cowboys' stadium, said the building codes, if followed, do a good job of protecting against most severe weather.
However, there are no guarantees.
"To design a building to withstand 200-mph wind gusts, like you would see in a tornado, that wouldn't be practical for a cost standpoint," Mr. Platten said. "It's a risk."
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