Is It Possible To Build a Safe Room to Withstand Cat 5 Wind?

[MiaMom]

Is It Possible To Build a Safe Room to Withstand Cat 5 Wind?

If our home makes it through this hurricane season unscathed, I'd like to install a "safe room". I most certainly would appreciate any thoughts on how to actually do this, such as materials, size, construction, placement, etc. I would hope one could be built to withstand Cat 5 winds, but after reading other posts, I am not so sure.

Also, in terms of local evacuation, what kind of structure is the strongest, i.e. what kind of buildings, made of what material, are able to withstand the highest winds?

It is quite obvious long-distance evacuation will not always be possible in every situation - at least not in South Florida.

Your expertise is appreciated. Thank you!

[dennis1x1]

oh absolutely...read the saffir simpson scale.....this is not an F5 tornado which levels everything.....strongly built houses will not be leveled...they will be damaged.

[abajan]

There's a solution - Expensive, yes but a solution nonetheless. Build it out of steel - nothing but steel.

[Brent]

Yes. Steel.

Anything less would be suicide.

[MBryant]

It also has to be above the flood and surge levels. Expense is the limiting factor. A jetsons style home built on pilings used by car ferrys landing sites about 50 feet high and sunk 100' deep. Titanium would be nice, but it needs to be spheroidal to balance aerodynamic forces.

This should work as it not only shields you from the storm but the flying debis left by the homes of less fortunate neighbors.

[ericinmia]

It also has to be above the flood and surge levels. Expense is the limiting factor. A jetsons style home built on pilings used by car ferrys landing sites about 50 feet high and sunk 100' deep. Titanium would be nice, but it needs to be spheroidal to balance aerodynamic forces.

This should work as it not only shields you from the storm but the flying debis left by the homes of less fortunate neighbors.

I can't recall off the top of my head where they are at... but i have seen many safe buildings built in the shape of igloos to protect them from wind. One i remember is built on a steel frame about 15 feet above ground. They are usually made of reinforced concrete, not steel.
-Eric

[MiaMom]

MBryant, I am sure that fits into the local residential building codes.

Abajan, have you seen this before?

Thanks for the replies.

[abajan]

...Abajan, have you seen this before?..

Nope. But it was the only thing I could think of that would be strong enough to withstand winds of such magnitude.

[frankthetank]

Would an M1A1 Abrams Tank on Stilts fit the bill????

who builds those Jetson homes, thats what i'm talking about?

[tkdmom]

on Sullivan's Island that is supposed to be hurricane proof and looks like an igloo....here are some websites I found on it:

http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/0904/170468.html

http://www.zwire.com/site/myzwire.cfm?B ... =461&rfi=9

[MiaMom]

Thanks, tkdmom

[inotherwords]

Interesting thread. I've been wondering about this myself. I live in a house built in 1924, a really solid Spanish Mediterranean revival home that's built basically of solid reinforced concrete and old FL yellow pine wood that's now petrified. But the bad thing is that I'm only 11 feet above sea level and live 1/2 mile from an inlet to the gulf, plus am on a small peninsula between two creeks. I've been wondering if I could add a second story to the house and design it to withstand Cat 5 winds and be tall enough to let the second story be safe in case of storm surge. I'm not sure it's possible but I wouldn't mind looking into it. I really wonder what the approximate storm surge would be here if a storm like Ivan were to make landfall or hit just north of here.

[shorrock]

If you're serious about, contact an architect and a structural engineer. They can solve the problem for you. I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. Spend a little money to protect life.

[greeng13]

i've seen that house tkdmom....it's pretty funky looking and almost seems as though it is out of the jetsons....

[lowcountry-buckeye]

Funny, I've passed that house numerous times, it sits on the northeast corner of Sullivans Island near Breach Inlet, and thought about what a goffy ass* (edited for content) looking thing it is.

After the last few weeks it looks a lot better.


However the house sits within no more than 200 - 250 yards from the normal high tide level. One of the articles mentions it could withstand 500 mph winds
(which seems a little ridiculous) but even if it withstood the wind, wouldn't a Cat. 5 storm surge still be too much?

[MBryant]

I'm surprised that a home similar to what I had in mind actually exists. I was just thinking of the Geodesic dome and why it would have to be modified to prevent damage from surge plus wave height, thus piers like I have seen at the bolivar ferry and aerodynamic changes to prevent it becoming a wing in such a high wind from varying directions. Thus the Sphereoid shape.

I had no idea there was a house that incorporated many, but not all, of these ideas. An architect who loves meteorology would be a good friend to have.

[abajan]

MiaMom, there's one thing I forgot to mention. The older a concrete structure, the stronger it is. That's because concrete takes 30 years or more to cure. It's one of the longest chemical reactions known.

As a matter of interest, the concrete deep inside the Hoover Dam is said to be still quite hot because it hasn't finished curing yet!

[greeng13]

MiaMom, there's one thing I forgot to mention. The older a concrete structure, the stronger it is. That's because concrete takes 30 years or more to cure. It's one of the longest chemical reactions known.

As a matter of interest, the concrete deep inside the Hoover Dam is said to be still quite hot because it hasn't finished curing yet!

abajan....i am not doubting you by any means i was just interested if you had a link to anything that would describe the "curing" of concrete

[Anonymous]

Build a cinder block room, right in the middle of your house, like a big walkin closet. Make sure the top of the closet is covered with a concrete cover, so that when the rest of the house is blown away, you will still be enclosed.

[NorthGaWeather]

Steel re-inforced concrete still won't withstand an automobile crashing thru it. Thats the one problem with safe rooms as they will withstand those winds but if large objects hit the room it will collapse.