Deltec's website boasts that in 47 years, they've built over 5,000 homes — none of which have been lost to hurricanes or high winds.

"The unique round design means wind can't build up enough pressure on any one side to cause the structure to collapse. Architects also purposefully pitch the roof at a larger angle so it deflects the wind. The radial roof trusses, which are the webs of wood beams designed to support a roof, can disperse energy instead of allowing it to build up. Then there's the more obvious ways Deltec builders increase their homes' hurricane resistance, like double-strength framing material and reinforced windows"




In 2005, Hurricane Dennis destroyed a home in Oyster Bay, FL, but the one next to it — a one-year-old Deltec structure — had barely any damage.

full article:

http://www.delish.com/food/a55366/hurricane-resistant-houses-deltec-homes/

Pretty interesting stuff

Nice!

Monolithic Dome homes are tough, too, and they can vary quite a bit. http://www.monolithic.org/homes

Here is a write up on riding out Hurricane Ivan (2004) in a really fancy one in Pensacola Beach, FL.
'Dome Home' weathers storm


It also gets mentioned in 5 of the world's most indestructible homes

After Hurricane Dennis (2005) rolled through:


Not monolithic, but a different (Geodesic) dome design that has had success weathering hurricanes, too: http://aidomes.com/hurricane-recap/

but will it withstand 5 cats?

How much do the houses go for? The article doesn't mention it.

Well because the ones CyBerkut posted are especially nice they might be on the upper scale of cost. Even the ones i posted are on the beach so how much is actually home cost and how much is just because they are beach front property.

If we could get a cost estimate of one that was say around 2500 sq feet and not located so close to the coast - say about 25 miles from the coast - we'd have a better idea.

That's crazy talk! No house can withstand 5 cats!

I believe I saw that the one in Pensacola Beach that I posted about was $7 Million. Monolithic dome homes can be had for quite a bit less than that, as I understand it.

http://inhabitat.com/why-these-round-houses-survive-hurricanes-that-destroy-traditional-homes/



"So what makes Deltec Homes different from other homes? The earliest forms of human shelter were round – inspired by Mother Nature’s most structurally stable ovoid designs such as the egg. Unlike traditional box-shaped homes, round homes possess only octagonally slight corners and sides. In the absence of sharp corners, wind and waves are permitted to flow freely around the house rather than allowing the kinds of pressure buildups that typically lead to structural failures.
Circular homes are held together by a greater number of interconnected points, making their joints both more flexible and stronger than rectilinear constructions. For these same reasons (slight corners, smoother flow of wind), round roofs are far more successful at withstanding wind and are less susceptible to being lifted off in a storm. Radial floor and roof trusses, which meet in a center ring like spokes on a wheel, lock the building in a constant state of compression, which further reinforces the building’s strength"

Of course we all know that Hurricanes are more than just wind - what about a tree falling on your home during a hurricane - what about a tornado hitting your home during a hurricane - what about the wreckage from another house hitting your hurricane-resistant home during the storm ? It is rather clear though - that Deltec's rounded homes stand a much better chance in a Hurricane.

"“It's sort of intuitive that the wind is going to flow around it,” Linton explains. “The physics of that essentially mean that about 30% less wind pressure builds up on the outside of a Deltec home than on a rectangular home.”

Linton says the storm-resistant houses often cost 5 to 10% more than an average home of the same size. That varies based on the location and other customizable details of each house.

http://www.businessinsider.com/delt...ic-than-traditional-rectangular-houses-1

We've got one of those in Vienna too...

but there's 1 thing missing - the hurricane

Not too many of those happening in Austria.

That is very interesting stuff. I spent my career in building design and construction and this is fascinating to me ( I'm also a nerd )

I would suggest that a round ( or elliptical ) plan structure with a truss frame on an adequately secured foundation would certainly be able to withstand category 5 hurricane force winds and quite possibly even higher. Physical damage from blowing debris would be a separate issue. Flooding can be simply mitigated by location. In alpine and Nordic countries there are homes built to withstand avalanches which , i would expect, deliver more force than hurricane winds. Here is Nfld we don't do anything other than build from long experience using standard materials with extra bracing and fasteners. We don't get anything close to category 5 hurricanes , but routinely have days of sustained wind over 100 kph with much higher localised gusting and we sustain little to no damage .

1. It has to be able to withstand TORNADO force winds, most catastrophic wind damage in hurricanes is from tornado's in the eye wall area.

2. It needs to be somewhere between 15' to 20' above grade if in a coastal zone, storm surge.

I guess it's because we live on the north east edge of the North Atlantic but we figure you must be nuts to build anything permanent below about 75-100 ft above sea level. It's not uncommon for a north east gale in winter to bring 50ft seas ashore and a bad storm will sometimes double that .

I guess it's because we live on the north east edge of the North Atlantic but we figure you must be nuts to build anything permanent below about 75-100 ft above sea level. It's not uncommon for a north east gale in winter to bring 50ft seas ashore and a bad storm will sometimes double that .

We get seas with NE winter gales that will top the cliffs in this picture ( about 15km from where I am sitting )

[img]https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiH_ePzutLWAhXBg1QKHcmbBKEQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Flbmcoc.ca%2F%3Fpage_id%3D208&psig=AOvVaw0a4glaa3j4b0wB9K89UF8-&ust=1507051596193551[/img]

Not only were those types of buildings Hurricane resistant, but also Mosquito, Spitfire, Thundebolt, and Mustang proof as well.