Hurricane-proof House

[Robatoy]

(in my best Python voice) " I would find it and fart in it!"

[Robatoy]

Too dangerous... subs run into them...

[bridger]

iisn't new orleans on a sand bar? make it too heavy and it will just sink when the ground gets saturated. a bunch of buildings did that on sand fill in san francisco during one of the big earthquakes.

[Swingman]

Took a thousand years, or so, though ... besides, I've got the time, and the ammo, for a brief holdout, relatively speaking.

[Chris]

So a little modern pyramid in order. With up to date arms and some electric grates would do the trick.

[Joseph Meehan]

Easy answer. Just build it in Antarctica. It has not had a hurricane in millions of years.

[Chris]

Plus no germs or bacteria. Food would stay longer for the survivalist.

Saw a show once about Antarctica. They came across a dead seal, looked like it died yesterday. Narrator mentioned that it had died 300 years ago. Wonder if the meat was still good?

[D. J. MCBRIDE]

This is going to take a shitload of concrete.

[Adam Weiss]

Some places to start:

1: The buildings at the top of Mount Washington are a good example to follow for wind resistance. They withstood a storm in which gusts topped 230mph, the highest winds ever recorded. Worth a look if you want a house that'll handle any winds Mother Nature might blow its way.

2: The dutch have designed well for slow rising water. They've built houses that float. Not house boats, mind you. These homes have floating concrete foundations that will rise and fall with rising water levels. (I knew that thesis I heard of where a stoner physics student designd and floated a concrete boat and got credit for it would have some use somewhere, but I digress).

An idea I had was a house with a two story garage and an amphibian car in it. Living area on the second floor. When slow rising water comes, the car/boat rises up, and I can go out of my house like I normally would, climb into my car/boat, and drive off.

3: Storm surge is already designed for in many parts of the Gulf Coast. Houses are up on stilts, as many of our Florida contingent here on alt.architecture can explain.

4: As for unwanted government and looter home invasion, the best defense is you. Your eyes and ears, a video camera, and a gun. If you design your home to physically withstand the worst storms, it logically follows that you should be able to stay there safely during the worst storms, and the best defense against looters is a physical presence and a gun; the best defense against government is a video camera.

A house that's a veritable fortress against intruders wouldn't be pleasant to live during the 99.9% of the time when there's not a hurricane pummelling it or looters attacking it. That's my view anyway.

5: Another thing to think about is plumbing. Namely, when the power goes out, the water will as well. I've seen and smelled a toilet that's been full and not flushed for 2 weeks straight; you -do not- want that in your house.

Some auxiliary toilet, an out house even, that doesn't rely on running water is certainly in-order for a hurricane proof house.

[David Sizemore]

The wise man woulb build his house upon the rock., and make it outta concrete.

[skroob]

Surplus army submarine would solve all issues.

[Charlie Self]

The English were using concrete boats in 1910 or so, and a Frenchman patented a wire reinforced concrete boat in 1847. It wasn't exactly a stoner physic student's brainstorm.

[Jim-Poncin]

No, it lies on delta muds and silts that slowly de-water, compact and subside. There are many tall masonry buildings in downtown N.O. that are on the same foundation.

[Cato]

How about a set of plane tickets set for parts far away?

[Jim]

It would be far cheaper to buy a house in some distant locale. At least, you could use for some purpose all the time. Jim

[Chris]

For a hurricane? Last thing I would want to be in.

What Army has submarines anyways.

[gregg]

On the North Carolina shore - near the mouth of the Cape Fear, one fellow built shacks on stilts. They get some fearsome hurricanes in those parts. The stilts, he claimed, allowed the house to sway in the wind (rather than resist and get pushed over). And the stilts kept the house from flooding in the surge.

[LRod]

[asinine proposition snipped]

I nominate this thread as the most retarded ever in the history of these groups.

[Adam Weiss]

I didn't know that.

But here it is, all online and easily accessed for those too lazy to do real research in a library:

interesting and thanks.

[Andy Dingley]

Best would be to build it in Britain, not America. (after all, "in Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen")

Second best would be to build it in America, in the way the British have always, and still do, build perfectly average houses. They're not great in earthquakes and in hurricanes the roof comes off (just look at Birmingham a month or two back) but the expensive structure stays intact and doesn't crush the inhabitants.

If you're worried about flooding, ask the Netherlanders, who have done this stuff quietly and competently for centuries.