Will your house survive the hurricane

[Nimbus]

With a busy season ahead I got to thinking about safe places to be. I'm currently living in a double wide tin death trap less than an mile from the gulf. If a cat 3 hurricane came through you would want to evacuate to a shelter or friends house that would stand up to the wind loads. I've been talking roofs with my friends and they say a house with a hip style roof is best, particularly if the rafter / truss spacing is two feet or less. How would a Gable end board roof hold up if the truss/rafter spacing was 4 ft.? Any of you guys have any expert opinions? Thanks

[ericinmia]

Are the gable ends CBR or Poured Concrete? If they are wood, lol, thats a really bad sign that you shouldn't stay even in a cat1-2 if you were to get a bad downdraft at the right angle.
-Eric

[Cryomaniac]

I'm fairly sure mine wouldn't survive much more than a high Cat 1, although since I'm in the UK the chances of it are negligible. We go get TS strength windstorms sometimes though.

[Nimbus]

Are the gable ends CBR or Poured Concrete? If they are wood, lol, thats a really bad sign that you shouldn't stay even in a cat1-2 if you were to get a bad downdraft at the right angle.
-Eric

Most of my friends houses are cinder block construction. I guess there are ways to reinforce the gable ends so the roof doesn't lift. I thought there might be a study done somewhere that rates roof types by style and construction. The videos I've seen of roofs flying off in a hurricane showed plywood sheets flapping away. I'm not sure how much truss spacing strengthens a roof against wind damage.

[lonelymike]

Also depends how far inland you go and if the roof is metal or shingle. I've seen my uncle's double wide death trap survive Opal and Ivan with minimal damage. Of course he lives 90 miles from the coast so I guess that makes a difference. Biggest threat we face is tornados vs wind and surge at the coast.

[Cookie]

Compared to most houses in the Uk, house up here on the western isles are built to with stand the strongest winds we get in off the Atlantic. Winters passed have had winds in excess of 100 mph on numerous occasions.

I know a hurricane would be a different kettle of fish.

[Recurve]

Unbraced gable ends are notoriously bad. That's what caused lots of whole house destruction in Andrew. Now code requires bracing. Code in the Keys favors hip roofs for sure, and the amount of steel ties required is incredible.

[Nimbus]

Unbraced gable ends are notoriously bad. That's what caused lots of whole house destruction in Andrew. Now code requires bracing. Code in the Keys favors hip roofs for sure, and the amount of steel ties required is incredible.

Whats the cost to retro fit gable roof ends with braces?

[Ixolib]

With a busy season ahead I got to thinking about safe places to be. I'm currently living in a double wide tin death trap less than an mile from the gulf. If a cat 3 hurricane came through you would want to evacuate to a shelter or friends house that would stand up to the wind loads. I've been talking roofs with my friends and they say a house with a hip style roof is best, particularly if the rafter / truss spacing is two feet or less. How would a Gable end board roof hold up if the truss/rafter spacing was 4 ft.? Any of you guys have any expert opinions? Thanks

Are you talking about building a roof over your trailer to mitigate hurricane damage, or are you just talking roofs in general? If the latter, a hip roof is always better than a gable simply because of the flat area that is exposed to wind in a gable style roof. If you're talking the first, then no roof system will keep your mobile home safe and surely anyone who stays in one in a cat 3 has gotta be outta their mind.

With all that said, overwhelmingly, most homes - regardless of roof style - will survive a hurricane's winds. Of course, there are exceptions, and those are the ones that make the 6 o'clock news. If you're in a sound home, with windows shuttered to prevent wind intrusion, and you are AT LEAST 40 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL, you'll most probably be okay in any category storm.

Hip roof or not - if you're below ~40 feet above MSL - go to grandmas house in Nebraska!! You can't protect yourself from surge - plain and simple...

[ftolmsteen]

I live roughly 2 miles from the coast of west central FL in a small late 70s model cinderblock home 18 feet above sealevel. I'm guessing the house would take a beating once winds are gusting over 110, but anything more I think it's going to be a total loss. If there's a strong cat 3 or higher pointing at my place I'm outta here.

[Tireman4]

We are 85 miles from the coast and 95 feet about sea level. Unless something wacky happens ( We did survive 90 MPH winds during Ike), I think we are ok.

[Jinkers]

I live in a concrete block 2 story townhouse, I'm inland, I have accordian shutters, so I feel pretty safe, at least up to a cat. 3, I have a closet under the stairs I would use as my safe room, if it's higher than a 3, that is if I don't hightail it outta here...lol. I don't know how safe any place is above a 3.

[GoldenTriangle]

My home withstood Rita, Edwardo and Ike...but with a lot of Rita damage...I worry about how much more stress it can hold up under.

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

I live on a beautiful barrier island, 1st level of evacuation. However, the building I live in was built in 1960 by the Army COE specifically to show how to build on a barrier island to withstand a Cat5 storm.

The pilings go right down to the bedrock. It is boomerang shaped to decrease head winds at any angle. Reinforced sliding doors are Cat5 rated, even though the building design supposedly limits the greatest winds to just Cat3 at their worst. The whole building is poured concrete and reinforced concrete. The first floor is simply parking and offices, with lots of pilings/columns.

From 1960-2000 it was contractually reserved by the Pinellas County EOC (Emergency Operations Command) to be used in the event of a hurricane as a staging center. They were going to run the recovery effort out of the building post-storm...so I suppose it is considered pretty safe. -Even if we would feel like we were living in Venice after a big storm! Our island is only 4ft. above sea level at the highest point!

In the event of a storm, we are staying. Even a big one...since we are younger and all our neighbors are old. They would need our help, since nobody evacuates. (as was seen during Charlie...very few left the island despite the dire predictions right up until that morning before it recurved into Sarasota county.) We maintain a large hurricane pantry with lots of supplies. We could actually live off of it ourselves for 6 months.

[ftolmsteen]

Wow.

I'm not trying to flame, but that's foolish to think you're safe. You can't be serious saying you'd stay even with a big storm. Treasure Island could be wiped off the map. I've heard some of those 911 calls of people begging for help on barrier islands during hurricanes when they find out their stilt home isn't going to hold. Police and Fire Dpts won't come during peaks of hurricanes or storms. You're a reg on here so I'm sure you know that, but I would get the hell out of there.

[TreasureIslandFLGal]

Well, this is a huge building, 150 2-bedroom condo units, and as I said, quite solid. If the EOC people stay here, I think I could too. That said, if it looks like a really bad one...a large 4 or 5, I would probably evacuate inland a little simply for the convenience! No electricity or running water up on the 9th floor is a b*tch. But I do think the building would stand and our unit would be safe. If we were lower, I would be more concerned with flying debris being an issue to compromise our unit (wind/rain inside) But we have reinforced hurricane windows and are way up. We are actually on the intercoastal on an island in the middle of it, versus on the beach itself, so there would be some minimalization of the direct wave action.

I would of course film to later stream here.

But I do know the magnatude of the situation. -thus the 6 months of supplies.

[Nimbus]

The last major hurricane to hit the barrier islands off of Pinellas county came through in 1921. It split Hog island into Caladesi and Honeymoon island. Assuming the worst if Treasure island was completely over run with a 9 foot surge, the pilings might hold and the concrete structure would probably survive. Every gulf facing condo I've seen has too much window area for my comfort. Even with shutters it could get pretty dicey with cat 4 or 5 winds and after the storm you won't have roads or power. Unfortunately some people who live in unreinforced structures are going to hear you talk about staying and think they could ride it out too.

[Scorpion]

I would feel comfortable riding out any hurricane in my house.

[m_ru]

Unfortunately some people who live in unreinforced structures are going to hear you talk about staying and think they could ride it out too.

I think people are smart enough to know whether they live in a large, reinforced concrete structure or not. She explained her living situation very well. If I were there, I'd probably stay too since I find severe weather so exciting.

I live in a well constructed wood frame house on an estuary. I have large gable ends with deep porch eves for the second story deck facing the northeast and southeast. The gable is braced extremely well on both ends, roof to wall and wall to floor connections are excellent. My south, east and north windows are huge (that view!) and all get boarded up. I'm built into a hill so the downstairs is part basement. 30 feet above sea level. Did not flood in Katrina, but if she had headed a tad further east it probably would have. My home catches full force wind that's unblocked for miles and miles in each direction. With the large eves facing the east, south and north... I know that roof structure catches wind like a MOFO. Did well in eyewall of George, west side of Ivan (tree fell on the house but only cosmetic damage) and did well in Katrina's outer eyewall. If a cat1 or 2 was headed my way I would stay and film the whole thing for you guys. I would be too scared to go through a 3 or worse. Even if my downstairs flooded, I would be safe upstairs...but not if the roof is lifting off!!!

[Agua]

Well, this is a huge building, 150 2-bedroom condo units, and as I said, quite solid. If the EOC people stay here, I think I could too. That said, if it looks like a really bad one...a large 4 or 5, I would probably evacuate inland a little simply for the convenience! No electricity or running water up on the 9th floor is a b*tch. But I do think the building would stand and our unit would be safe. If we were lower, I would be more concerned with flying debris being an issue to compromise our unit (wind/rain inside) But we have reinforced hurricane windows and are way up. We are actually on the intercoastal on an island in the middle of it, versus on the beach itself, so there would be some minimalization of the direct wave action.

I would of course film to later stream here.

But I do know the magnatude of the situation. -thus the 6 months of supplies.

We need MORE cute girls, not LESS, so do the smart thing.