There have been numerous hurricanes over the past years in the United States. They have caused damage on a large scale.
Consequently, lots of research was done to make hurricane proof houses. They had to be fast to build and economical so that larger people can enjoy their benefits. After lots of testing with different house designs, the engineers came out victorious. They had built hurricane proof houses. They are made of wood, nails and screws, just like any other house. But these houses survive hurricanes. These houses are made on an assembly line. The assembly line has seventeen stations. At each station, the house gets one step closer to being done. There are specialized teams on each station who install everything that needs to be competed in that section. The whole process is finished in two weeks. It starts out in three sections: the bedrooms, the kitchen and the roof. When they are done, the all the three pieces are taken on the site and then bolted together there. All the conventional houses are taken out by hurricanes for one simple reason – Physics. A storms’ 150 miles per hour speed of wind destroy the roof and eventually the whole house. And even if the house survives this, it cannot withstand the huge force of water waves, which literally lift the house off its foundation.
They say, “If you have got a house and a hurricane, the hurricane wins.” But the right design can proof this saying wrong. First, they built straight plain floors and then attach walls on its sides using very long and strong nails. But these nails are just a start, if they want to handle 150mph winds, they have to do something special to it. They use glue to join the walls and the floor. This fills up any uneven wood, makes it stronger and smoother. This special glue expands to form a strong bond between the dry wall, the nails and the floor. This also makes the house more flexible. Every wall in the house is made in this similar fashion. The strong winds can find weak spots in the nails and rip the structure apart. The special glue brilliantly solves this problem. Everything in the house, from the smallest to the largest parts, is unified with the special glue and with the exceptions of some occasional long nails. The roof of the house weighs 5000 pounds and has amazing hollow designs inside it to let the strong wind pass through it. Next, the house has to be able to resist strong and deadly walls of water pushing their way into the city. For this, the engineers dig deeps holes and erect massive poles. They put these heavy poles in a 6 by 3 rectangular shape. Then they put loads of concrete on the floor for added strength. Next, they put the house on top of these poles. This way, the floodwater will not enter the house even when it’s 10 feet above the ground. And finally, they put steel straps around the house to give it ultimate strength.
These design structures have made the life of the people living in the hurricane prone areas much more stress-free. Engineers have found a way to build fast and economical houses that are hurricane proof. Their mission is simple – help the victims of the hurricane-affected people and rebuild their houses, one house at a time.
Works Consulted: –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane-proof_building
http://www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2013/07/a_home_that_can_laughs_at_hurr.html
http://www.topsiderhomes.com/hurricane-proof-homes.php
http://www.texasgulfcoastonline.com/Portals/0/News/HurricaneResistantHomeDesignFeatures.jpg
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/5127816/list/11-Ways-to-Hurricane-Proof-Your-House
Very good topic.
You describe one set of design principles for resisting hurricanes without saying where they come from – a company, a research lab, or local or state government. The methods you list work but up to what level hurricane is a question. Haiyan exceeded 150 mph. Sandy happened where hurricanes were not expected. If you listed all design responses then building away from the ocean means no storm surge and lower wind speeds. This gives you lots of other design possibilities. And they are all cheaper
One thing you did not mention was having wall openings that allow the pressure to equalize
” The strong winds can find weak spots in the nails ” what does this mean? weak spots without nails, glue, cross bracing, etc.? Hurricane Andrew revealed a lot of sub standard building even in expensive neighborhoods. Katrina also found substandard flood walls. So strict code enforcement would help
“Most people don’t know this – the hurricanes that were named after women (feminine names) have proved to be more destructive and violent than the ones that were named after men (masculine names). No wonder it’s true. From now on, all of them will be named after men.” Not true