Tornadoes kill more people per year in the U.S. than hurricanes and earthquakes combined. However, for years, American building codes lacked requirements for tornado-resistant design and construction, leading to unnecessary property damage and fatalities.  

Today those codes exist, thanks to Long Phan and Marc Levitan, two structural engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology who led a decade-long effort to create the world’s first tornado design standards. These historic standards will enable builders to construct the nation’s critical facilities, including hospitals and schools, to withstand 97% of the roughly 1,200 tornadoes that occur in the U.S. each year.   

Long Phan and Marc Levitan are finalists for the Service to America medals in Science, Technology, and Environment.

May 5-11 is Public Service Recognition Week, a period when public employees at all governmental levels — federal, state, county, local and tribal — are acknowledged for their work.

For all the good work our government employees do, there are threats to our government workforce from Trump and various Republican officials .

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