I was just thinking that exact same thing this morning. I've never seen a 12 floor building get flattened by a tornado. I would worry about a progressive collapse though
The answer is "are you kidding?" Those things were built during the stone age, before building codes necessitated such wind engineering.
What are the pluses and minuses of 'berm' construction? I've often thought that I'd like to be able to laugh at hail, high winds, heating and cooling bills, etc. I've also got a cool idea for building CCD cameras into the 'dirt side of the house and mounting flat panels on those interior walls so you'd have real time virtual 'windows' through the dirt.
Those bermed Norman middle schools always seemed like a good idea (and no windows to distract restless kids). They seem kind of dark when you are actually inside one but they must be a safe haven in event of tornado . . .