After they move out of shelters and relatives' spare bedrooms, thousands of southerners who lost everything last month to a pack of killer twisters will need new homes.

The city of Tuscaloosa doesn't allow manufactured homes, meaning houses, apartments and new construction are going to be key.

Scientists combing through the destruction left behind say beefing up building codes and retrofitting existing homes with building techniques honed in hurricane-battered Florida could save property and lives in tornado-prone areas throughout the country.