I'd say you got a tremendous deal on the slate roof! That's highly skilled work.
Glad you and yours are OK too.
I have always wondered about whether people out there are gathering scientific evidence through wind studies. You have the tornadoes, down here in the Coastal Carolina's we have hurricanes. If results proved that timber frames due in fact hold up better in these weather conditions (all other variables being equal) it seems that risk assessment would go down creating more market demand for such building methods.
It interesting to read about how vernacular architecture dealt with such conditions before the Code. I was reading a book on the Outer Banks and read an interesting passage on how they dealt with rising water. Basically, they did not nail down their floor boards. When the floods came, the boards would unseat themselves and the structure would stay in place on its piers. Otherwise you essentially would have a boat instead of a home.
