Fluther: Can a house really be built to survive hurricanes?

Can a house really be built to survive hurricanes?

Asked by Yellowdog (12216

) October 10th, 2018
37 responses
“Great Question” (5

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I have an interest in historic, vernacular, regional architecture that goes back to my early- to mid-teens.

It seems that there have been houses in earlier centuries on the Gulf coast and eastern seaboard that have survived such severe storms. They were simply built better, and were usually shuttered to protect the windows and interiors.

Then again, maybe these houses never had a direct hit from the higher categories of hurricanes.

There have also been older homes in my city that, after a fire, demolition crews have had much more difficulty than expected tearing down the ruins. I remember a house in particular, built around 1902, that was next door to my great grandmother. When I was nineteen and already very much into Victorian houses, sorry to see this one go and hoping to get a glimpse of the way it was constructed, the demolition team telling me that there was no hurricane or tornado that could take out a house like that. Maybe he was exaggerating.

But with so much loss and devastation among our Gulf and Atlantic coasts in recent years, I wonder if many of the historic homes will survive, or if homes could be built now, finances permitting, that would survive such atrocities.

Sorry that I may seem unconcerned about human survival—I am actually working with Samaritan’s Purse right now—skipping South Carolina to head for the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. I AM concerned about the people. But this question is about the survival of people’s homes, property, ideas for rebuilding, and the continued survival of historic places that give the region its identity.

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Topics: construction, building, Historic homes, hurricane survival

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Answers

Yes, buildings (houses) can withstand even Cat 5 hurricane winds. Where they run into problems, though, is often the placement that gets affected by the storm surge or flooding from the deluge.

A house that survives the wind cannot last long if flooded to any substantial amount. That’s why North Carolina is facing such a huge problem recovering from Florence.

zenvelo (39406

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Yes, Delltec Homes “here’s their piecehttps://www.deltechomes.com/learn-more/hurricane-resistance/ on hurricane resistant houses”:

Tropical_Willie (31117

)“Great Answer” (1

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Thanks

Yellowdog (12216

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Can a house be built to survive a tornado I wonder?

Dutchess_III (46806

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According to Deltec’s own page: “While nothing can be 100% completely hurricane proof….”

I’ve read about steel-framed houses being able to withstand wind speeds of up to 170 MPH, but even those houses would have been damaged by hurricanes such as Camille, Gilbert, and Mitch.

I’d say the only way a house could withstand a hurricane or a tornado, would be if it was built completely underground.

Brian1946 (32266

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An underground house in a hurricane would be the WORST thing you could do! Flooding….

Dutchess_III (46806

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You could build a proper castle, or a bunker.

ragingloli (51956

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What I’m talking about is basically an underground vault; something that would be reinforced and seamless, such as a titanium dome.

Also, a dwelling could be built so that it was recessed into the side of a mountain, at the upper end of a downward-sloping cave.

Brian1946 (32266

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Or something like this

ragingloli (51956

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The Deltec houses in Galveston were some of the only house still standing after Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Tropical_Willie (31117

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There’s a “hurricane proof” house on a local island. It’s kinda like a half sphere. It’s ugly, but interesting…

MrGrimm888 (18985

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Our Miami-Dade Hurricane codes are pretty good.

Block construction, specifics for roof straps, air allowed to travel
through the attic, and storm shutters. Don’t forget to clear out anything that can blow around outside. Also, good grading to keep water away from the house, unless you are near bodies of water that will swell,, and there is little you can do.

Category 4 and 5 direct hit is really rough though. Still, I know houses that go through it with little to no damage. Cat 1–3 no sweat for most homes.

JLeslie (65410

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Flooding is indeed one of the biggest problems. There are tornadoes during hurricanes too. There is nothing tornado proof.

MrGrimm888 (18985

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^^The tornadoes in hurricanes usually are very quick and not very strong. It’s not like a tornado blasting through Kansas. It’s more like a very strong circular gust. So, they are still strong, but it’s not that much stronger than the damage being done already.

JLeslie (65410

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Things underground are tornado proof @MrGrimm888.

Dutchess_III (46806

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Since airplanes are constructed to be air dynamic why can’t houses?
Perhaps a domed house would shift the winds off as roofs now are torn off because of the sir getting under it circulating and ripping the roof off?
Perhaps the is why futuristic homes will be domed?
( To shift the winds and dust )
Flooding ? ..then build on higher ground ( hills/mountains..protected areas?)

Inspired_2write (14486

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Dutch. Yeah…. I was watching a few F-4s, and a 5 on YouTube the other day. Will storm shelters really protect you from those?

MrGrimm888 (18985

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How about a retractable, reinforced concrete pyramid, with 1m thick walls?

ragingloli (51956

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^And Mexico will pay for them!

MrGrimm888 (18985

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I am thinking of something like this
Except the faces are each a wall, and retract into the ground.

ragingloli (51956

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Looks pretty tough. I hear rounded structures do better with wind, but that thing looks like it’d be fine during most weather events. It needs a good base, or it’ll just float away in a storm surge.

History has proven that a pyramid, is a great shape for construction…

MrGrimm888 (18985

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“How about a retractable, reinforced concrete pyramid, with 1m thick walls?”

That would be massively resistant, perhaps even to any wind that has ever blown in this planet’s history, but I would suggest a titanium cone that has the same properties you listed.

Brian1946 (32266

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Yes,storm shelters will really protect you from F4s and F5s. Shelters are the only reason anybody survives a direct hit.

This was an F5 that hit Greensberg, Kansas in 2007. Before it hit I remember seeing radar on TV. I did a triple take. In fact, I took a picture of it and I still have it on my computer somewhere. I’m no meteorologist but I know evil when I see it. It utterly destroyed every single building, everything that was above ground. Two years later Rick and I had occasion to be out that way. It’ll never be the same.
At the time of the tornado the population was 1266. Out of those “only” 11 died. Everyone else was under ground.
(The population as of 2016, though, was only 717.)

Dutchess_III (46806

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Have you seen any info about the wind speed of the Greensburg F5?

According to the Fujita scale, it was over 200 MPH, but for all I know, it might have been 300. :-o

The fastest wind speed I can find is:

“That 296 mph gust came close to matching the highest wind speed ever measured on Earth. Joshua Wurman, another leading tornado researcher who runs the Center for Severe Weather Research, said his team recorded 301 mph winds in a tornado that struck near Moore, Okla. on May 3, 1999”.

Brian1946 (32266

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Yes, I know. It’s wicked. I mean, we get hit with straight line winds out of the blue sometimes, 50, 60, 70, 80 mph! It’ll knock you off your feet.

“Over 80 tornadoes were confirmed that day ( Greensberg), along with hail as large as softballs and straight–line winds as strong as 90 mph” That’s from my link. It only mentions the straight line winds, not wind speeds of that tornado.

Dutchess_III (46806

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Oh. Googled some more
“type EF5
Wind Speed 265 mph (426 km/h)
Path Length 22 miles (35 km)
Diameter 1.7 miles (2.7 km)” (That is freaking HUGE)

Dutchess_III (46806

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I think I heard that the blast waves generated by the Chicxulub imact, were about 1,200 MPH.

I bet even my beloved titanium cone dome, would have needed a thorough waxing after that!

Brian1946 (32266

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Yeah, and it killed the dinosaurs!

Dutchess_III (46806

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300 meter tsunamis. I assume they were moving at incredible speeds too. Amazing…

MrGrimm888 (18985

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What is a “300 meter tsunami?”

Dutchess_III (46806

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Some houses, even in Mexico Beach, are still standing—with everything around them flattened. I’m sure there is extensive damage, flood damage, and a lack of infrastructure, but some houses and other buildings survived.

When I was a kid, I REALLY wanted to live in Pensacola or Gulf Breeze. I am now thinking it is futile to build or establish anything permanent, even though Pensacola is one of the oldest towns in North America.

Coincidentally, some of the earliest Spanish settlers in the mid-1500s believed the Florida panhandle was too dangerous to settle, due to hurricanes which decimated some of their earliest efforts.

Yellowdog (12216

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A 300-meter tsunami would be an impact wave that was about 990 feet high. I think I heard that the waves created by the asteroid smashing into what is now the Gulf of Mexico, were about 1,000 feet high.

Brian1946 (32266

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Well, it altered life on the planet, too.

Dutchess_III (46806

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It sure did.

If Chixi hadn’t crashed into Earth and caused such a profound evolutionary change, dinosaurs would now be running Fluther.

Brian1946 (32266

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Dutch . It was in Brian’s link.

MrGrimm888 (18985

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I read his link.

Dutchess_III (46806

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Not sure we were made to survive something like that—nor would we want to.

It may have been in The Dunwich Horror—

I wonder what I shall look like when the earth is cleared and there are no longer any earth things on it?

Yellowdog (12216

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