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[jasons2k]

Not to bash home builders but your right KB homes are pretty cheap BUT they do include EVREYTHING.... Here closer to the coast, I did manage to have my home builder install extra hurricane clips.

Seawall is rated I believe for only 15-17 surge which would be overrun by cat4-5. Would not be pretty.

BTW- I did purchase flood insurance today eventhough I am not in a evac zone or flood zone. Best $300 I ever spent for peace of mind. I would suggest anyone here on the south end of town do the same.

Yes, even though I am well inland and nowhere near the 500-yr floodplain, our realtor advised us to have flood insurance just in case. She said she tells ALL her clients moving to Houston to buy flood insurance. I think the floods of Oct. '94 (?) flooded a lot of areas that weren't supposed to. If the lake Conroe dam ever failed (and it was severely damaged from Rita) I would be in trouble.

[Stratosphere747]

You would be surprised to know how few are properly insured. Talking with our agent during the Rita scare, it was amazing to hear how many people were trying to get insurance. What was also crazy is how many after hearing that they had to wait said "never mind".

[ROCK]

You would be surprised to know how few are properly insured. Talking with our agent during the Rita scare, it was amazing to hear how many people were trying to get insurance. What was also crazy is how many after hearing that they had to wait said "never mind".

NO joke. I was one of those people who was not properly insured. I had no wind or hail insurance. I was VERY surprised. I thought I had it when I purchased my house. If Rita would have made a direct hit, I would have been up the creek without a paddle with roof damage.

[ROCK]

even with Galveston's sea wall?

Yes, the island would be devastated by the wind, but the same is true for Miami (where our hgih rises cannot withstand a surge).

Houston is a whole other story though and would be at least as bad as Miami due to the oil refineries and the ship channel

I think a direct/worst case scenario in Houston-Galveston would be far worse than Miami, for a few reasons.

1) The shallow shelf/geography/bay would contribute to a much worse/more widespread surge in Houston vs. Miami. That's one of the reasons why I think Tampa would be a lot worse than Miami as well. I don't think Miami is nearly as vulnerable to a surge. Also, the seawall would easily be overrun by a Cat. 4-5 surge.
2) The refineries, heavy industry, and chemical plants that line Galveston Bay/Freeport spell ecological disaster. The Dow Complex near Freeport is the world's largest petrochemical complex. Also the Ship Channel, etc. is lined with heavy industry.
3) Building Codes. They are very lax in Texas (for hurricanes). No such thing as CBS construction here. I live in Montgomery County, the first "tier" of inland counties and just a few miles from Harris County, and there are no hurricane building codes. Supposedly the coastal tier of counties has them but they are nothing like you find in Florida. All those ranch style homes built in the 70's/80's by builders like Fox & Jacobs will fall apart. Even the new econo-boxes built by Choice, D.R Horton, & KB homes....nothing but brick with a pine frame, are a disaster waiting to happen.

very true. they still build wood-frame houses here too, which was outlawed after hurricane andrew in Florida.

wood-frame houses? My home purchased in 03 is wood frame though it is completely brick with no hardy plank. I am not sure what you mean by this. I have seen homes on the west end of Glaveston built with steel studs but nothing well inland.

[Extremeweatherguy]

I was not referring to the coast necessarily, but inland I have seen many homes being built wood-frame style. In Florida, homes after 92' (at least where I lived) had to have the first story be block...thus they were much more wind resistant in FL than here in Houston. If a major hurricane were to hit Houston, the damage would be much worse than if it were to hit a place in Florida.