On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 00:17:05 -0500, "RB"
wrote:

Went though Ivan and now Dennis without significant house damage. However,
other hurricanes will most likely be along. And, they seem to like where I
am on the Gulf Coast.


The mobile home straps are designed to stop the entire home from
flipping over in a strong storm and you want to keep the entire roof
from blowing away so at first glance it seems like a good idea but..

Generally you don't loose your roof as a whole unit in a hurricane.
What happens is the wind gets under the roof when something gives.
Once the wind is under the roof it literally rips it all apart piece
by piece.

The best protection you can get in my opinion is to make sure all the
joists are firmly attached to the walls using the strapping method
currently defined by code and make sure all the structure around the
roof is substantial and well enough attached that it won't come loose
in the storm giving the wind an opportunity to rip the roof apart.
The new code is also pretty picky about how the decking has to be
attached but you really can't change that without ripping off the
roof.

Steve B.