Lessons learned from the one home that survived Hurricane Michael

It's the house the entire country was talking about: The one that was still standing after Hurricane Michael when the rest of Mexico Beach was flattened. Four months later, the owner is explaining what he’s doing to make the home even stronger for the next big one.

[annabarclay]

He built his house to amazing standards, learned from the mistakes he did make, AND evacuated anyway. Very impressive on all counts.

[savethebees]

This house should be the housing code for all homes in hurriane areas.

[tedmoser]

People probably laughed at what they thought was overkill on his build, but, his house is still standing and came out pretty good.

[Kinsanth_]

For this person the "overkill" of safety held its ground, whilst other houses got wiped out. And to top that off, that person still improves his house to make it even more stable. Thats real dedication and that house is also in the main hitting area of a hurricane. Very very well done indeed on selecting the materials

[dawsonfradin]

This is a true quaity house with a smart home owner. So many of those buildings on the boast sell for millions of dollars, but they are poorly constructed and rarely ever come close to the standards needed to properly with stand the dangers of being there. The developers care about the profit margin, build cheap and sell big. Huge respect to this man.

[Jennifer_Laz]

If he hasn't already, this fellow should start a storm preparedness consulting company for home builders. He already has a proven model. Bravo!

[rainbowsunshinekitty]

The key is that he built his own home. No one will do it better.

[kwerk]

We were there directly after the hurricane; my husband and I are part of a disaster response team. It was devastating... I remember seeing that house wondering how it survived. Thank you for sharing.

[kinngrimm]

There was recently a similar story about a whole residential area which was built explicitly to survive the worst stroms and it survived without a scratch including their solar energy grid which made them also independent from the state energy grid which was interrupted during that last hurricane.

So yeah if you want to build in areas prone to hurricanes you better spend that extra money and/or have to pay up in terms of inssurance if the inssurance companies would even service you still.

[ShlivingShleafers]

This man is the Tony Stark of hurricane damage prevention, ALWAYS learning from mistakes and optimizing them

[johngallo]

As a Building Inspector in Florida, windows are part of what I inspect. I am very hard on contractors to do it the right way. They may hate me sometimes but I do not care. My boss told me, if your name is not written on the inside of a porta potty, then your not doing your job right. I don't care how well you built your home... If ONE window gets taken out, the WHOLE house is compromised!

[ryannorton]

Everything in Okinawa is made from reinforced concrete. Survives multiple typhoons and earthquakes regularly. I think it’s time areas impacted by hurricanes regularly do the same. Save a lot of time, money, and heartbreak

[sushibar]

Another good idea is to have shutters that slide out to cover the exterior of all windows, especially large windows. Houses in Japan have these, and they are quite used to getting typhoons. The sliding covers need to lock firmly together, but they protect windows from flying debris.

[grondhero]

That man is living the good life. Not only is his house one of two in the neighborhood to survive the hurricane, his college team, *Tennessee* is undefeated.

[timevans]

It amazes me that anybody building in a hurricane prone location doesn't build to this standard anyway. In the UK we are used to 100mph winds. Houses are made of brick or stone. Wood is used to build garden sheds

[littleone]

Simpson hurricane clips should be endorsing that gentleman And what a beautifully built home he has

[SunnyCarnivore]

This man needs to put out a video of everything he did and what he has kearn since so others can follow. I am sure it was very expensive but it saved him so much money from not having to build another house. Very smart man.

[Paul-ourx]

His home sustained the type of damage you might see if a teenager's parents were out of town.
He deserves a discount on his homeowner's insurance.

[Rhaspun]

This reminds me of a homeowner in the Monterey area of California. The city required that wood shake shingles be used for roofing. Buy the homeowner insisted on a clay tile roof. He finally got his clay roof tile installed. After a big fire had happened and the only home left standing in that area was this one house with the clay roof tiles. After that the city made adjustments in building codes.

[carsonhoover]

Not to mention the fact the house was on stilts. Reduced the flooding risk.