The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, particularly in towns like Asheville, North Carolina, has been incredibly shocking and heartbreaking to watch in recent weeks. As a nationwide team with employees, clients, and loved ones in the affected inland and coastal areas, we are truly devastated for those who have lost family members, friends, homes, and entire communities in the hurricane’s wake.
While we’re all aware of the destructive potential of climate disasters, the increasing severity of these events in recent years is a stark and unsettling reality many of us are still grappling with. After the catastrophic damage caused by Helene, and with Hurricane Milton looming, many people are left asking: How can we better prepare our homes for these extreme weather events? And how can we design future homes and communities to protect people and infrastructure during a hurricane, wildfire, tornado, or other climate disaster?
With climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters worldwide, our team is more committed than ever to ensuring that your home provides as much impact resistance and safety as possible in any weather or geological event. Even if evacuation is necessary, we want to help you create a hurricane-resistant house you can return to and thrive in again and again—and here are some of the ways we help achieve that:
Heavy-Duty Framing Components
One of the main advantages of choosing a building kit from DC Structures is our dedication to providing high-quality, durable materials. For example, our team sources select structural grade Douglas fir timbers for all our post and beam and timber frame buildings, ensuring maximum strength, energy efficiency, and beauty for your heavy timber structure.
In places like Florida, Texas, and California, we can’t stress enough the importance of building with robust materials like these, considering heavy timber structures are proven to be naturally resilient and perform exceptionally well under extreme conditions like earthquakes, high winds, fires, and other severe climate events. The strength and density of our timbers, along with their natural insulation properties and sustainability, make them an ideal framing material in disaster-prone areas. This core layer of protection significantly enhances a building’s performance and longevity.
Impact-Resistant Windows & Doors
Nothing is more terrifying than having the safety of your home compromised by shattered windows or a broken door during a hurricane. While fully hurricane-proof building materials don’t exist, we can equip your home with impact-resistant windows and doors that provide added security and peace of mind. To improve the performance and reliability of your building, we source our windows and doors from trusted suppliers like Andersen, Pella, and Marvin. While options like impact-resistant glass may come with a higher upfront cost, these material options are well worth the investment, particularly if you plan to remain in your home during a storm.
Precise 3D Design & Engineering
Something else that sets us apart here at DC is our ability to digitally construct your model ahead of the building process, giving you total freedom to do as you wish with your home or structure. During the design phase, our in-house designers will work closely with you to explore, modify, and perfect your design, with our team either starting with your preferred building kit or an idea for a custom building.
One of the main benefits of planning your structure this way is that every aspect of your building—from the foundation type to the framing and hardware—is carefully planned and thoroughly reviewed before fabrication starts at our manufacturing facility. That means your structure goes through multiple rounds of design reviews, edits, and approvals to ensure total precision for framing and a building kit that aligns perfectly with your location, site characteristics, and needs.
Furthermore, our engineering partner—licensed in all 50 states—is accustomed to working with clients in hurricane-prone areas and will guarantee, through thorough inspection and research, that all components of your design meet or exceed your state’s building codes. With your building modeled in our 3D design software and reviewed by our engineering partner, our process couldn’t be more effective in delivering superiorly built structures that stand up to climate disasters.
Steel & Concrete Reinforcements
For an added layer of strength, we can design your home with steel or concrete reinforcements to bolster its structural integrity. In hurricane-prone areas, an elevated foundation is crucial to protect against flooding, and incorporating steel or concrete elements can provide essential support and durability. For example, in the Hunter’s Point neighborhood on the Florida coast, homes were built with a solid concrete first floor, upper levels connected by steel straps, and a steel roof. As a result, these homes stayed dry and intact through Hurricane Helene, illustrating how strategic building methods can protect against severe weather.
Of course, we offer several other ways to enhance the safety, comfort, and protection of your home, no matter the climate challenges of your location. From California to Maine, we’ve worked with clients in all climates and can help you create a beautiful, resilient wood structure built to last for generations.
To learn more about how we design for climate disasters, call us at (888) 975-2057 to speak to a representative today! With our help, your dream of owning a safe, sustainable, and hurricane-resistant building is entirely within reach.
