It is no wonder then that a growing number of home building manufacturers are launching or highlighting products designed to keep a home’s contents safely inside when dangerous winds are howling outside.

Dr. Bill Applegate, a Shell Point, Fla., resident, is taking advantage of one such technology. Applegate recently moved into a Topsider Home, a prefabricated post-and-beam house designed to withstand hurricane-force winds, heavy snow loads and earthquakes. The 2,300-square-foot unit was completed in July 2005, three days before Hurricane Dennis hit. The home, which can be built out up to 12,000 square feet, withstood the storm because of its octagonal shape, special glass fittings and concrete pedestal. (Click image to enlarge)

"The wind got up to around 90 miles per hour and the tides were up pretty high, but we were fine," says Applegate. "Some homes not terribly far away simply disappeared."

While building a new home is an attractive idea, manufacturers know some people prefer to retrofit their existing house with weather-resistant materials. To that end, DaVinci Roofscapes of Kansas City, Kan., and FutureStone, based in Fort Worth, Texas, have introduced products designed to withstand up to 250 mph wind gusts.

FutureStone’s technology replaces typical wood walls with insulating concrete form (ICF). It is nine times stronger than a traditional wood foundation and has achieved a 250 mph wind rating. "Technology, which was previously used for safe rooms, has migrated to the mainstream market," says FutureStone president Cameron Ware.

ICF, which can be used for new, as well as existing, construction, has Styrofoam on the outside and can be snapped together like plastic building blocks. The blocks are filled with metal rebar, then filled with concrete. Sheetrock or stucco is screwed onto the outside so that the home looks like any other. It is also mold, sound and temperature resistant. The cost is only 3 to 5 percent more than traditional building materials. It is so solid that its UL fire rating is three or four hours. A typical wood frame home will burn in about one hour.