Hurricane season

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
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Saw in CNN the other night that there have been four hurricanes in six weeks. And apparently, a few more are on their way.

In their paths of destructions, twisters/tornadoes are created and more damage is done.

The question is how come all these natural disasters are hitting the headlines all at one go. Some years ago, apparently the weather also went mad.

Now in 2004, the natural fury of the elements has returned.

Besides taking cover in the basement, what else do those who are affected have to do to protect themselves?
 
So far, I have been hit by three of the hurricannes, one being a direct hit causing so far, over $45,000 in damage. Down here in Florida homes do not have basements. We hide in an interior room of the house with no widows. If you home does not have storm shutters too protect your windows, people usually board up there windows with plywood. Down here we also stock up on supplies like batterys, water, can food, gasoline. We also check the oil in our chainsaws and generators.
 
Here on the NC coast, we don't get hammered nearly as hard as Fla. But, Fla, Tx, and NC are the 3 states that get the most hurricanes.
I can ride out a category 1 or 2. If a category 3 comes along, I'm out of here.
We keep some provisions on hand, just in case the power and/or water go out. Flooding can be quite a problem here on the NC coast. I'm thinking about buying a little john boat that will float some essentials, and a couple of waveriders. Seems that's probably the most cost effective way of dealing with it.
 
The problem with hiding in a basement with hurricanes... is that if your close enough to get flooded, your house tries to float away while the wind tries to blow it away!

Havent got a clue how ya avoid having the above happen. Avoid the wind by going below ground. Avoid the water by going up on stilts! :eek:
 
my sister is on the FL east coast and their house has done well with all 3 hits.
This last round all the houses around them sustained serious damage but theirs held up great. They have made a lot of improvements with hurricanes in mind over the years, so it payed off.

As for survival, they just stockpile food and water for a week or so and ride it out. Going without water and electricity are the bad parts. she hasn't had phone or internet since before Ivan!
 
"They have made a lot of improvements with hurricanes in mind over the years, so it payed off. . . ."

There are lots of things that you can do to a building to make it stronger and resistant to water damage. Those things are expensive, but I guess it comes down to a decision about whether you want your home to be disposable and replaceable, or bomb-proof and secure.

It's a classic problem, whether to burden the few or the many with either adequate preventative measures or cleanup expenses.

I wonder how much damage there would be right now if everything had reinforced masonry walls and composite steel deck/concrete roofs.

Scott
 
beezaur said:
"They have made a lot of improvements with hurricanes in mind over the years, so it payed off. . . ."

There are lots of things that you can do to a building to make it stronger and resistant to water damage. Those things are expensive, but I guess it comes down to a decision about whether you want your home to be disposable and replaceable, or bomb-proof and secure.

It's a classic problem, whether to burden the few or the many with either adequate preventative measures or cleanup expenses.

I wonder how much damage there would be right now if everything had reinforced masonry walls and composite steel deck/concrete roofs.

Scott
Click to expand...

Just simple things like shutters and making sure there is no way for wind to get under your roof make all the difference in the world.

In the islands a lot of the buildings are solid reinforced concrete. That way the only thing they have to replace after the storm clears are the windows and doors. Water damage trashes the insides though...

3 'canes in a row will trash even a very high quality structure. Many of these folks never had an opportunity to fix anything from the first two rounds, so their houses were weakened 'sitting ducks' for the third hit.

Its a bummer, but you oughta be prepared for local weather events if you invest in real estate. So I have little sympathy for a trashed 2 million dollar beachfront spread.
 
Between my mother and my family, we have been affected by 3 hurricanes as well. Still have a cabbage palm and laurel oak on the house we are renting courtesy of Frances. My mother had damage from Charley and a tree top on her roof from Frances. Jeanne was the strongest here in North Florida and caused the most damage, but nothing compared to the folks in SW Florida, SE Florida, and the Panhandle.

Some people I know in Central Florida said it would be 3 weeks before they would get power. So, most people in hurricane county need to be prepared to go 'camping' more or less.
 
The best way to avoid flood damage is to not even consider buying property below the 100yr flood plain, and preferentially look for even higher ground. Of course, I believe that does rule out most of south florida....
 
Here is copy of the Broward County 100yr flood plain (Broward includes the South Forida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood). It looks like around 80% of the county including most of the downtown area is below the 100 year flood level, and none of it is more then 15 feet above sea level.

http://www.co.broward.fl.us//oes/wmipdfs/100yr.pdf

n2s
 
What I dont get is why people build square houses in areas that are prone to hurricanes. I saw this program once on a guy that built his house on a design from some sea snail or other slimy critter. Basically it was so strong it would never get damaged due to its shape. Admittedly its wasnt that pleasing to the eye but it sure beats not having a house at all.
 
during hurrican jeanne my family and I were all sitting around a table listening to a battery powered radio (had power back for 5 days between frances and jeanne) when this lady called into the local station to invite all of the listeners to an "open house" after the hurrican passed through. I guess she lived in a 60 foot diameter concrete monolithic dome that was built on a small hill (man made hill, here in south florida) to compensate for the storm surges.

apparently, her house is the closest thing to hurricane proof according to FEMA...the only reason it is not impervious is the necessity of doors and windows. but windows can of course be shuttered or boarded up and a good steel door with bolts at ground and ceiling level should be just about as strong as the house itself.

one downfall... her house weighed 400,000lbs... I don't even want to imagine the cost of mixing and pouring that much concrete.
 
I haven't looked at this closely for while, but there are several companies that do "dome homes" of various sorts. The shape is kind of a challenge for construction. Sometimes the pieces are precast as triangles, then assembled into a geodesic dome. One company has some sort of inflatable mold against which the concrete (shotcrete) gets sprayed.

Those things are incredibly strong. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes -- you name it, they will survive it. Your stuff might get sucked out a window, but the structure will still be there like nothing happened :)

Scott
 
I haven't looked at this closely for while, but there are several companies that do "dome homes" of various sorts. The shape is kind of a challenge for construction. Sometimes the pieces are precast as triangles, then assembled into a geodesic dome. One company has some sort of inflatable mold against which the concrete (shotcrete) gets sprayed.
Click to expand...
The folks at Monolithic Dome Institute are one of the oldest companies in the concrete dome structure building business, so far as I can tell. They have on their site info regarding dome performances in the recent hurricanes.

I researched domes a few years ago with the people at Dome Technology in Idaho and they were very forthcoming about what it takes to put up one of their structures. The reason I didn't pursue it further was that here in the rainy NW corner of the USA vegetation will grow on the domes, same as on any other structure. I was looking for a moss-proof structure at the time, if such a thing exists.

Links to other info on geodesic and monolithic concrete domes:
http://itotd.com/index.alt?ArticleID=265
http://architecture.about.com/od/domes/
http://www.raincrazy.com/domes/
http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0328/building_1-2.html
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/2001/0218/story1.html (2001 news story)
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/remodeling/article/0,1797,HGTV_3659_1385797,00.html (warning: slow server & pop-up ads)
http://www.bfi.org/domes/makers.htm (dome mfrs & dome info links)
http://www.farmshow.com/issues/250209.asp
http://www.monolithicmarketplace.com/ (links to dome plans & supplies vendors)
http://www.domebuilders.com/directory/ (links to dome builders)
http://www.domebuilders.org/resources.html (another list of links to dome supplies vendors)
 
That would be so cool, a mossy hill to live in....

I have thought of a dome or group of domes with spiral gardens on the outside, sort of a spriral walkway or set of terraces all the way to the top so no land is lost and you do not have to worry about runoff.
 
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