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.

NOLA must have been on the back-side, with storm surge initially going out.


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 think you can safely leave "rec.woodworking" off the list; there won't
be a lot of wood in this structure. First, you need to withstand a 30'
storm surge and, to be safe, 40' waves. 200 mph wind. So, I would start
with reinforced concrete on bedrock, bottom 70' not living space.
Hurricane shutters a must, along with generator higher than potential
flood level. Plenty of fuel, food and water. Security force to keep
out the masses when THE storm is coming. Heli-pad/covered pool on roof.
You will have to have some leisure and exercise, and a way to get out
when the end of the world comes and you and a chopper pilot are the only
two humans left ) Might as well put the ark up there, too )

We have had about 8' storm surge from storms far out on gulf and no
wind. Pretty spooky when the seawall and docks all disappear and it
looks, suddenly, like a beach ) 30' storm surge where I live would
drown my upstairs neighbor.