these videos may or may not be from Florida
i am using them to better understand how building structures fail in the face of hurricane wind loads
i don’t understand why the roof goes first …
Because American homes, even those built in hurricane zones like Florida, are constructed to be as cheap and modular as possible with materials like pine timber and nails. It’s cheaper to build homes like that and insure them for damage than it is to build every home to withstand extreme forces.
Homes built from brick/stone or concrete don’t fall apart from wind damage. Hell, steel-reinforced concrete is so sturdy that it can withstand a strong blast like the one in Beirut.
On the other hand concrete is suspectible to water erosion. The high rise that collapsed in Florida was structurally compromised because of water.
So if you move to Florida, get a house that is made from steel-reinforced concrete, but get it thoroughly inspected for potential water problems.
Water problems are a big deal in Florida. Florida is basically a giant wetland. In fact, houses there don’t have basements because there would be no way to keep the water out.
in the videos i watched it is always the roof that fails, so it doesn’t really matter what the rest of the house is made out of.
i was frankly surprised by this.
you would expect the roof to fail first from a Tornado, but Hurricane ?
apparently it doesn’t matter - roof goes first.
maybe it’s because the walls tend to be heavier built as they sit on the foundation and the roof tends to be more flimsy as it has to be suspended …
or maybe it’s not even the roof that fails, but the point where the roof attaches to the walls …
internet says if you’re going to build a house in Florida use a metal roof, and attach it securely to the walls … well, if you can swing building a custom home i suppose that would be something to look into.