Editor’s Note: Design for Impact is a series spotlighting architectural solutions for communities displaced by the climate crisis, natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies.
CNN —
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.
Gene Tener’s home in Crystal River, Florida, has survived successive hurricanes. Although he needed to clean up his flooded ground-floor garage following Hurricane Helene in September, the house sustained
Americans are investing in ‘hurricane-resistant’ homes
