For those of you who know Florida and the like, perhaps you can explain something to me please?
I am looking at the drone footage of the damage and cannot understand how some properties are seemingly unscathed and others in the same area are flattened. Why? Is it that US building practices are so poor? I would have expected properties that are built in parts of the world where there can be hurricanes would be built to the highest standards.
Some are older, and not built to withstand hurricanes. The windows, for example, differ: some are constructed so as to cope with hurricanes.
Many houses all over the US are timber framed even those in areas prone to extreme weather events such as hurricanes and tornados. I’m guessing it’s down to cost and speed of construction as land costs in the popular coastal parts are very expensive.
I got caught in a hurricane a couple of years ago in Florida and seeing the damage first hand was an eye opener, I can’t imagine what it must be like losing your home in an instant. Our favourite place on the west coast has been badly hit by the recent hurricanes, not so much by the high winds but the tidal surges which have flooded nearly every street depositing over a foot of sand everywhere.
Much to do with the ‘haves’ and’ have nots’. My cousin lives in Florida in a single story ’ near mansion’ made from pre-fab rebar concrete panels, sides and top, with a basement ‘safe room’ to hunker in etc. His garage also is all pre-fab panels for his six cars, all in a gated park with dozens of other houses, whereas not a quarter mile down the road are parks of mobile homes where such luxury is unheard of…
Yes it’s down to the type of house construction. In theory they should be built to a hurricane proof building code, but older properties (and as Adam1 mentioned, mobile homes) won’t be.
When I lived in Turks & Caicos my brother had a house and guest house built - the architect designed them to be made of concrete blocks sitting on poured concrete foundations.
However when it came time to actually build them the contractor was unable to source sufficient concrete blocks (all building materials came in on a boat from Florida), so he used poured concrete instead.
We thus ended up with two houses that had double the required thickness of solid concrete wall so could sit out hurricanes with relative equanimity! The power lines, which following American practice were up on telegraph poles, always got blown down, so we used to sit indoors and read or play board games and cook on a gas barbecue for a few days until power was restored.
What tended to happen to some houses though was that the wind ripped the roof off, as sometimes metal sheeting was used for the roof covering instead of tiles. When Hurricane Ike (a Cat 4) hit Grand Turk in September 2008, 80% of the buildings lost their roofs. Fortunately there was no loss of life.
As you know from posts recently,my daughter and her husband were impacted by Helene in Asheville NC. Luckily their appt is brick built but most of the buildings destroyed and washed away were timber framed. A lot of the houses they have visited recently with a view to buying are all timber frames, many looking like the dutch barn style or big Georgia cotton family mansion styles with colonades at the front. They are now deciding not to remain in NC and are going to head over into Tennessee or even north Georgia and take a look there, they love the region from many visits and the state taxes are much lower too, NC will have to raise them to pay for all the hurricane damage. One chap in town lost 15 members of his family that night and another lady stuck up the mountain because the roads had gone, was living with dead bodies all around her. They now have everything back on but water is not drinkable still and won’t be for some time like the Blue Ridge Parkway which has collapsed in parts.
Now just let me think, a few tent pegs pushed into the lawn to try and stop a tornado pulling the roof off🤔
To be fair, I think he has actually concreted in some tie-down loops… it’s a bit more substantial than tent pegs.
Just remind me what is a lamp post and a telegraph pole?
What about the vehicles though, they would still cause some damage or be a write-off if hit badly unless they were all leaving and taken them. Family have heard from work colleagues based down in Florida and they are mostly OK but suffering same as them in the first instance with no utilities and structural damage. It could have been a lot worse with the death toll too.
I used to provide an insurance facility for hurricane and motor insurance for the US Virgin Islands. We were invited by the Islands’ Governor to set it up and I agreed subject to freedom to set the rates at an actuarially computed figure. After the scheme making a loss for the first two years and analysing the results, we revised our offer to cover solely those buildings constructed to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) standards set for a hurricane prone area and steel window shutters. For the next two years we made a modest profit. Then there was an election for a new Governor and one of the new incumbent’s platforms was reduced hurricane costs and wider coverage for all houses, irrespective of construction. We warned her that if she implemented this as legislation, we would withdraw from the Islands, other than motor insurance. She ignored the warning (typical politician), so we withdrew our scheme. There were no other takers for alternative commercial coverage, so I have no idea whether a government insurance scheme had to be set up. The US Virgin Islands are a hurricane magnet and get hit to a greater or lesser degree, nearly every year.
Just seen a report on the house, it has not been damaged at all, not even a roof tile gone. Apparently it cost the owner $22,000 to get specially made anchorage points and cargo straps to his spec but it has worked and he says he will leave it insitu until hurricane season is over.
Thats good news for them, I didnt think it would take it but clearly a lot of thought went into it.
Plenty of guy ropes 
Or just dangly wires? In T&C (sorry I don’t have a photograph) it was not so sophisticated - just dig a hole in the ground, slap in a pole, string wires across to the next one along.
As a result, they would blow down. But at least it was fairly simple for Cable & Useless to put them back up. 
Not quite as many wires but you don’t have to go to America to see an overhead tangle of wires.
This is 3 of 5 poles within 30 metres of each other on the road next to our chemin.
Meanwhile in India
There are a number of different factors which come together to create the phenomena to which you refer.
Basically, a lot of the houses are little more than a glorified garden shed as regards the method of construction, but then you really have to ‘go for it’ construction wise (very expensively), to withstand a direct hit from a hurricane, and for a tornado you would be talking about lots of reinforced concrete, a massive and well anchored roof, and substantial steel shutters !
It’s cheaper to buy good insurance if you can afford it, and if not, well just hope that the levy don’t break and the creek don’t rise.
Hope this helps your understanding Sue.
