The United States often suffer from the ravages of hurricanes (tornadoes). Why do they continue to build plywo

If built right, even plywood clad homes can withstand category 5 hurricanes. But the reasons why such homes "blow apart" in hurricanes are 1) inadequate building code standards for high risk areas, and 2) contractors trying to be cheap. The VAB at NASA's Kennedy Space Center near Miami (see wiki) is neither "reinforced concrete" nor "underground" (it's the largest "empty box" building in the world) has withstood all the hurricanes to hit Florida so far. It's just an engineering matter.