Building to Survive a Hurricane

In September 2008 Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula on the Texas Gulf Coast: (I found these pictures on the internet.)

But some newer homes survived:

We were fascinated to learn how these homes are built.

The major factor in their survival is the foundation they are built on. Twelve inch by twelve inch posts forty feet long are driven into the ground 20 feet. It is quite a process.

The posts are driven in the soil for half their forty foot length: 

 

The sleeve holding the pounder (please excuse the use of such a technical terms) is placed over the post:

And then the post is slowly driven into the ground:

Once the foundation is in place .

The remainder of the home is constructed to a code that requires that it withstand a 200 mile per hour wind

The results are quite beautiful homes that have stunning ocean views.

The construction around the foundation will break away during a hurricane and allow thw water to flow through.

The builder told us that homes in this subdivision sell for between $450,000 to $600,000. Not bad for a beautiful beachfront home that will survive a category 5 hurricane.

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