Located in the rural outskirts of London, Ont., The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment dome, or WindEEE for short, is a research facility of Western University. The work being done here advances our understanding of complex wind systems and is important because Canada ranks second globally, behind the U.S., for the most tornadoes recorded per year. Destructive twisters usually strike southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and the southern Prairies – and it’s a problem that’s getting worse. …WindEEE is used to assess how buildings and other infrastructure will perform under extreme wind conditions, supporting the work of scientists with the university’s Northern Tornadoes Project. …Across Canada, a patchwork of codes are in effect, with some jurisdictions working off of decades-old national code editions. …No provincial or territorial building code currently requires hurricane straps. South of the border, the hurricane-prone state of Florida has, since 2002, mandated that new homes have those metal clips. [This Globe and Mail story requires a subscription to read the full text]