Nehmo wrote:
Let's say you're building a 1,500 square foot house plus garage on a
sufficiently sized lot from scratch in New Orleans after the water has
been drained. You want to build so that the house would suffer zero
damage should it endure a hurricane of similar size as Katrina.

You would have to build to survive the wind, the flood water, the
wind-caused waves in the water (In Katrina-NOLA, the wind had subsided
before water came in; this may not be the case in the future), and the
impacts of debris.

You need to anticipate looters and unwanted government interference.

The house would have independent utilities, communication, and supplies.
And the house would need a secure means of transportation for escape if
necessary.

How should this house be built and what should it have?



I was just wondering about how to reinforce the front door so the cops
couldn't kick it open -- even with that little battering ram they use,
unless they want to keep pounding on it for 20 minutes. I think the
door frame and the latch are probably more important than the actual
door. Of course, it would have to have a chain so you could crack it
open to talk to people on the other side if you wanted to. 5/16" safety
chain? If they tried to kick it in while the door was cracked, it would
bounce shut (breaking someone's foot, hopefully) and you could latch the
bolt if you were fast.

An antique-looking 4 inch cannon in the front room would make a great
conversation piece. Hopefully no one would ever have to find out that
it was real and loaded with grapeshot.

Wood-frame construction (except for the heavy steel door frames) with
lots of metal ties to hold the roof joists to the wall plates, and steel
siding.

No basement, obviously.

Heavy full-sized shutters to cover the windows.

Small generator and transfer switch.

Best regards,
Bob