Americans are investing in ‘hurricane-resistant’ homes

Amid strengthening storms and rocketing insurance premiums, some homeowners are taking matters into their own hands with circular homes designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane.

Flood insurance in hurricane-prone Crystal River, Florida would have cost Gene Tener $12,000 a year. But the retired engineer has taken matters into his own hands. Sat on stilts anchored deep into the bedrock, his 3,200 square-foot house is designed to withstand storm surges and category 5 hurricanes. In the five years since Tener moved into his prefabricated home, it has survived a succession of major storms, including Idalia, Debby and Helene. “We had one of the hurricanes, I forget the name, come right up straight over the top of the house… And we were fine,” Tener said as he toured CNN around his home, which he shares with wife Tammy, via Zoom. The 66-year-old, whose previous insurer had refused to underwrite the three-story property, said several of his neighbors now “self-insure.” Beneath two elevated floors of living space, he has equipped a ground-level garage with flood vents (which let water in to equalize the pressure) and breakaway walls, not part of the building’s structural support, that are designed to cleanly break off in the event of severe flooding. Elsewhere, high-impact windows protect the home from powerful winds — as does its distinctive shape. Tener’s property is among more than 5,500 circular houses produced by Deltec, a US company that says its “hurricane-resistant” designs can withstand winds of up to 190 miles an hour. (A category 5 hurricane, the highest classification, is defined as having wind speeds of at least 157 miles per hour.)