Houses intact after Hurricane Michael were often saved by low-cost reinforcements

Five Habitat For Humanity houses, center, stood firm during Hurricane Michael even as an adjacent trailer park saw heavy damage. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

washingtonpost.com - by Patricia Sullivan, Frances Stead Sellers, and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux- October 17, 2018

The houses still standing in the storm-ravaged neighborhoods of Florida’s Panhandle are conspicuous for their presence. Sticking up from the rubble like one remaining tooth in a jawful of decay, each one is a haunting reminder of what used to exist around it.

In many cases, they were saved by additional strategically placed nails, some small metal connectors and window shutters that created a sealed package — low-cost reinforcements that determined whose home survived and whose was destroyed by the power of Hurricane Michael. (Full article)