Very Cool Hurricane proof (rated up to 200mph) home

[logybogy]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6011773/

[Guest]

I wonder how much that was.

[charleston_hugo_veteran]

i just saw that and was gonna post but thought it might be EDITED!

[lapeym]

Well, if it can withstand a hurricane with only having to rebuild the stairs, and it can't go up in flames, the insurance premiums should be low.

I bet the architects are standing by the phone.

[PTrackerLA]

Well it's ugly but might give those who need to rebuild an idea of what to do.

[soonertwister]

Looks like possibly a monolithic lightweight concrete pour. The base shell shouldn't have been terribly expensive, but the carpentry and finishing costs had to have been horribly expensive.

Much more practical to build in straight lines with with adequately reinforced concrete in the proper thickness for strength and ideal thermal properties.

It isn't hard to build a hurricane-proof structure that is more readily compatible with other existing structures in the area, if there are any. And have it ending up looking really beautiful when completed, too.

[Terry]

MSNBC's Kerry Sanders rode out the storm in that home. He's been giving reports and said that the stairs were designed to breakaway in storm surge ......and the did. And it is a 20+ foot drop down. Also said that the 3 houses to the east were destroyed and the one to the west was in bad shape.

[gatorbabe79]

$334,000 construction only

[Brent]

I saw that house when we went to Pensacola Beach back in Mid-June on our way back from Fort Walton Beach. My mom calls it the alien house. I had no idea it was built to withstand a hurricane.

[gatorbabe79]

http://www.monolithic.com/plan_design/FEMA/index.html

About $98/sq ft was in this article.

[borderPatrol2329]

A look at what Ivan did to I-10 at Escambia Bay brings any concept of the term "Hurricane Proof' into sobering reality. It conjures up memories of the famous description applied to the ill-fated Titanic. Seeing as what Ivan did to those bridge supports, the concept of a "Hurricane Proof" house may be somewhat over optimistic. Somehow the thought of several tons of concrete sitting over my head would be somewhat discomforting should I be listeneing to the storm surge crashing against the walls.

[rlar798]

Saw a story on this house last night. It withstood the hurricane except for some minor leakage, a tree frog and the break-away stairs. Sounds pretty amazing to me considering it withstood the winds of the storm and the storm serge.