Hurricane Harvey - My Rebuild Concept

[Boyntonstu]

[video=youtube]http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da3P5aV6JD4[/video]

 

[TrainChaser]

Water-collection roofs like that aren't good in high-rainfall country. If your house is 800 sf, and the edge is one foot tall: 800 sf X 7.48 gal/sf X 8.34 lbs/gal = 49,906 lbs of weight. If the drains get clogged with flying debris, that's a lot of weight for a roof of any material.

I read where local people in Corpus Christi are taking shelter in a sturdy old concrete Holiday Inn. I hate to think what would happen to these trashy, cheap-junk 'modern' homes on the West Coast if hit by a hurricane; the biggest advantage would probably be that the owner wouldn't have much debris to clean up, because most of it would be blown miles away. Although he might get other people's building debris from down the road.

I wonder how many people who have generators left them at ground level instead of taking them up to the second floor?

 

[Boyntonstu]

Water-collection roofs like that aren't good in high-rainfall country.  If your house is 800 sf, and the edge is one foot tall:  800 sf X 7.48 gal/sf X 8.34 lbs/gal = 49,906 lbs of weight.  If the drains get clogged with flying debris, that's a lot of weight for a roof of any material.  

I read where local people in Corpus Christi are taking shelter in a sturdy old concrete Holiday Inn.  I hate to think what would happen to these trashy, cheap-junk 'modern' homes on the West Coast if hit by a hurricane; the biggest advantage would probably be that the owner wouldn't have much debris to clean up, because most of it would be blown miles away.  Although he might get other people's building debris from down the road.

I wonder how many people who have generators left them at ground level instead of taking them up to the second floor?

Let me explain:  The roof holds zero water.  It is designed to be at a slight angle to funnel the water into a storage cistern below.  [size=small]The concrete roof is a shaded [/size]"patio" for recreation. 

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear had the generators below ground level for looks!  
What a horrendous screw up!

 

[Boyntonstu]

This is why I suggest rebuilding houses at about attic level height, 8-10 feet..

Imagine the life and money savings if that was the regulation for beachfront and low lying areas.

People climbing into attics to escape flooding, official say.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/peop...cs-to-escape-flooding-official-says/468028354

 

[highdesertranger]

imagine if all houses in tornado prone areas where underground. imagine if people were not allowed to build in floodplains. imagine if it was mandatory to have a defensible space around all houses in fire prone areas. imagine if all buildings were not allowed a certain distance from fault lines. boy, California would be in trouble. there is a lot to imagine. highdesertranger

 

[TrainChaser]

Imagine if people wanted to build a sturdy concrete home in flood zones like they do in the Philippines, or a fireproof concrete/partial-underground home in fire zones, and straw-bale/fire-resistant homes in earthquake areas, and DIDN'T have to get a 'professional evaluation for alternative structures' for tens of thousands of dollars, and DIDN'T have to pay as much for the permits as they do for every facet of the structures? Do you know what we probably WOULDN'T have? We wouldn't have such a high percentage of poorly designed, garbage materials, cheapsh!t mobile homes with built-in lifespans, that fall apart in a good breeze. FOLLOW THE EFFING MONEY!

 

[Gary68]

never under estimated a fir 2x4,the things are beasts

i'm n.w. so i wouldnt live below 100ft at the coast,you're just asking for it if you do,no ocean front homes here,they would be dust the first winter

 

[Boyntonstu]

never under estimated a fir 2x4,the things are beasts

i'm n.w. so i wouldnt live below 100ft at the coast,you're just asking for it if you do,no ocean front homes here,they would be dust the first winter

It isn't the fir 2x4, it's the stuff nailed to it.

Much of Florida has an elevation of less than 12 feet (3.7 m), including many populated areas such as Miami which are located on the coast.

 

[IanC]

I was talking to one of the locals in Cameron, Louisiana. He told me that During Hurricane Rita the entire area was inder 12 feet of water. After the flood, people rebuilt their houses on 15 foot pillions, however the cost of construction was so high that few could afford to and just left and didn't return. He said the cost of the pillion structure under his house cost more than his house did. So it's not that there aren't building solutions to many natural disasters as much as it is that most people couldn't afford to do it. And, if you take all the possible natural disasters few places in the country are immune so avoiding flood zones tornado prone areas hurricane prone targets, mud slides etc etc is near impossible. Heck we had a major tornado in Massachusetts and this area has never had one before.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Or if everyone lived on wheels, they could have all relocated a week prior and returned a week after.

 

[Boyntonstu]

I was talking to one of the locals in Cameron, Louisiana. He told me that During Hurricane Rita the entire area was inder 12 feet of water. After the flood, people rebuilt their houses on 15 foot pillions, however the cost of construction was so high that few could afford to and just left and didn't return.  He said the cost of the pillion structure under his house cost more than his house did.  So it's not that there aren't building solutions to many natural disasters as much as it is that most people couldn't afford to do it.  And, if you take all the possible natural disasters few places in the country are immune so avoiding flood zones tornado prone areas hurricane prone targets, mud slides etc etc is near impossible. Heck we had a major tornado in Massachusetts and this area has never had one before.

It may be cheaper to subsidize pillion house construction now for rebuild than to pay out the National flood insurance later.

 

[bigsallysmom]

My brother's stilt house in Rockport was almost dead center of the eye. Because of hurricane building codes the only damage to the house was an upstairs door that goes to a future deck was knocked open and part of the house got wet from rain. Six blocks away two low income apartment buildings had their roofs peeled off which compromised the walls so the whole thing is a loss. The house and apartments are only two feet above sea level and hundred yards from the shore. No salt water intrusion.

 

[CautionToTheWind]

They are predicting Colorado River to rise 50 FEET right NEXT TO the nuclear power plant SW of Houston.

SE Texas rivers to RISE by 50ft in next 24 to 48 hours - MANY Mandatory Evacuations: