Man rides out Ivan in fortress

[Josephine96]

Man Rides Out Ivan in Fortress-Like House on Pensacola Beach

POSTED: 3:52 pm EDT September 16, 2004

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- Mark Sigler was probably one of the few people who could sleep soundly with Hurricane Ivan's battering waves, 130-mph winds and flying debris slamming into his house.

Ivan was the first test for his Dome of a Home on the Gulf of Mexico, a veritable fortress built to withstand winds up to 200 mph.

"I was afraid at first when the storm started whether it was going to work or not," he said.

But his fear didn't last long. The house is made of a single slab of steel-reinforced concrete shaped like a dome and is covered by waterproof foam. It weighs about 850 tons, compared to about 25 tons for a normal house, Sigler said.

"You have a one-piece concrete house with five miles of steel in it," he said. "The house did exactly what it's supposed to do."

The Gulf's water washed neighboring houses out to sea, but caused little damage to his.

"We could hear pieces of the other houses breaking up and smashing into the house," he said.

He spent years planning to construct what he calls a hurricane-proof building after seeing his previous house severely damaged by Hurricane Opal in 1995. He found that the dome shape was stronger architecturally and got a federal grant to help with construction, which was finished 14 months ago.

The house looks like the cross section of an egg. Two breakaway staircases led up to the entrances, but they ripped away as they were designed when Ivan's force became too strong.

An NBC television news crew rode Ivan out in the house with Sigler to beam live feeds for broadcast. Sigler hoped the national attention would promote his building style, but the excitement wasn't enough to keep him awake.

"I went to sleep about 11, and I just woke up," he said at dawn

[mitchell]

got a federal grant to help with construction,

This guy got a Federal grant to build a beach house!!! WTF is the world coming to? Unbelievable and I hope not true.

[gtalum]

This guy got a Federal grant to build a beach house!!! WTF is the world coming to? Unbelievable and I hope not true.

It actually makes sense. The feds have to provide flood and hurricane insurance to people right on the beach because no company will cover them. By spending relatively little money now researching and encouraging better building procedures they can end up significantly reducing their emergency outlay when these storms hit.

As long as the feds are in the insurance business (which I don't think they should be, by the way) then it makes good sense to give this guy a grant to build his house.

[Josephine96]

LOL.. I didn't see that part.. BTW.. One more post you'll be our newest tropical low..

[Guest]

Is this the same as this? http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic ... ht=#684278

[Josephine96]

I believe so..

[Guest]

ok cool. That house looks neat to me.

[USCG_Hurricane_Watcher]

Whoa...Where can I find out about a grant like that???

[mitchell]

By spending relatively little money now researching and encouraging better building procedures they can end up significantly reducing their emergency outlay when these storms hit.

As long as the feds are in the insurance business (which I don't think they should be, by the way) then it makes good sense to give this guy a grant to build his house.

Research is one thing. I'm all for government research. I'd rather not have my tax dollars actually building his house!!! (if thats what the article meant...and I still can't believe it does)

[Guest]

"Five miles of steel in it"

When they say facts like that, it makes me always wonder at what gauge.

[opera ghost]

The grant helped with construction- they didn't pay to have the whole house built and then give it to him.

It makes sense. Part of research is producing what you've researched... and researching it in the real world- now that they know that the dome home can survive a hurricane they can use the living model in examples and studies.

In exchange for the grant he gets to live in a fishbowl when hurricanes threaten and used as an example. It doesn't *sound* like a bad trade... but most people really hate losing that privacy.

[gtalum]

I'd rather not have my tax dollars actually building his house!!!

I agree with your sentiment. But the fact is our tax money would pay to build this guy's hosue whether he got this federal grant or not. Without the grant, he would have just built a regular house and we'd be paying to rebuild it in the wake of Ivan just like all the other beach houses destroyed by hurricanes. As it stands now we only have to pay for a new set of steps.

Until the government gets out of the insurance business, we will be paying to build and rebuild hurricane-destroyed houses. I don't know about you, but I'd rather just pay once and get it over with!

[KeyLargoDave]

we're veering into politics here..

You want the government to get out of the insurance business? So no more FDIC? Or flood insurance for river flood plains, not just hurricane zones?

[HurricaneGirl]

Kewl House! If people live on the beach where there are hurricanes... that's what they should do. I like it and think it's a great idea.

[mitchell]

Until the government gets out of the insurance business, we will be paying to build and rebuild hurricane-destroyed houses.

Can't they just set the price for the insurance right so the insurance premiums cover the damages/rebuild costs??? I mean all of the private companies do it. They even do research:idea: Doesn't the government have actuaries?

[mitchell]

we're veering into politics here..

You want the government to get out of the insurance business? So no more FDIC? Or flood insurance for river flood plains, not just hurricane zones?

FDIC is REinsurance which makes sense. Just set the insurance prices properly so tax dollars aren't building beach houses. My 2 cents...

[jlauderdal]

Man Rides Out Ivan in Fortress-Like House on Pensacola Beach

POSTED: 3:52 pm EDT September 16, 2004

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. -- Mark Sigler was probably one of the few people who could sleep soundly with Hurricane Ivan's battering waves, 130-mph winds and flying debris slamming into his house.

Ivan was the first test for his Dome of a Home on the Gulf of Mexico, a veritable fortress built to withstand winds up to 200 mph.

"I was afraid at first when the storm started whether it was going to work or not," he said.

But his fear didn't last long. The house is made of a single slab of steel-reinforced concrete shaped like a dome and is covered by waterproof foam. It weighs about 850 tons, compared to about 25 tons for a normal house, Sigler said.

"You have a one-piece concrete house with five miles of steel in it," he said. "The house did exactly what it's supposed to do."

The Gulf's water washed neighboring houses out to sea, but caused little damage to his.

"We could hear pieces of the other houses breaking up and smashing into the house," he said.

He spent years planning to construct what he calls a hurricane-proof building after seeing his previous house severely damaged by Hurricane Opal in 1995. He found that the dome shape was stronger architecturally and got a federal grant to help with construction, which was finished 14 months ago.

The house looks like the cross section of an egg. Two breakaway staircases led up to the entrances, but they ripped away as they were designed when Ivan's force became too strong.

An NBC television news crew rode Ivan out in the house with Sigler to beam live feeds for broadcast. Sigler hoped the national attention would promote his building style, but the excitement wasn't enough to keep him awake.

"I went to sleep about 11, and I just woke up," he said at dawn

kerry sanders from nbc national also stayed there with this guy. there was minimal damage to his place and the rest of the homes looked terrible.

[CajunMama]

I'm impressed at what our tax dollars did....maybe this will set a trend for more stringent guidlines for those who choose to build along the coast. The cost of the grant was probably a drop in the bucket compared to what will be paid out for Ivan damages.

[Derek Ortt]

that home was some of the smartest money ever spent by our gov't. Now we know what type of hourse can withstand a cat 3 or a 4 (a 5 still may be a bit up in the air, as evidenced by Caymans destruction, and Cayman was a fortress). what we need to do now is require that ALL homes that are being rebuilt in this area, be constructed in the same manner as was this one

[Terry]

.... Just set the insurance prices properly so tax dollars aren't building beach houses. My 2 cents...

In FL, the various hurricane deductibles are 2% of the value of the house - prime beach front homes obviously pay a chunk of out of pocket change.

Personally, I was glad to learn of the gov't grants for building/re-building homes along coast and flood areas. We'll all learn how to build 'em better and gov't will ultimately pay less for re-building.