Thinking of The Recent Devastation Of Hurrican Ike In Texas

"que sera sera.. whatever will be, will be... the future's not ours to see.. que sera sera"... dunno why suddenly that sang just 'popped' into my ears... (i hope i spelled the whole thing correctly.. ) dont mean to sound mean.. but maybe the same song was playing in their ears when they decided to buy and move in those houses ??... me think the same way as you... and me really fear the sea.. me wont buy house to near the sea.. on the shoreline.. especially after watching 'Deep Impact'.. 'Armageddon'... and after the Christmas Tsunami which hit Asia few years back..

Not me. I live in a house on a slab, away from large bodies of water in an area that I have never felt an earthquake in 53 years of living here. The most dangerous thing that I think might happen here - since I do live in Texas - is a torando.

Were all of those houses their main homes? Often houses are put on stilts after a bad flood (usually several feet above the flood mark) to prevent further damage. I have a feeling that a decent amount of those homes are not the main house either. For example, there are some folks who live in Louisiana is houses such as that. They are usually fishermen who have to be near to where they work (keep in mind most fishermen are far from rich). However, quite a few folks do not live on the shore full time, they have fishing and hunting and vacation "camps" that are weekend retreats.

There are lots of coastal areas where this is the practice, and lots of multimillion dollar homes on mudslide prone hillsides in California. We tend to think we deserve anything we can afford, even when it flies in the face of good sense. Around here, you have to buy special insurance if you insist on building in a flood plane. I guess they do too, but who would insure a house in that situation?

People here in Texas are so Hot they want to live in the water, so why not build in on stilts so you can be in it all year round..lol.. I know what you mean but not just here in Texas or Calif. but anywhere along the water border areas..you'd think people would use their brains..it can happen..it will happen... and they are the first to cry for help.I've heard it all..i live in Texas...

Hey pye! I agree with you! There's no way I would ever buy a home that is built near a shoreline and is up on stilts! I never quite understood this to begin with. Don't these people question the fact that their home is on sticks? Wouldn't they feel much more secure with a home that is planted on firm flat land? I know I sure would! I also wouldn't want to be that close to a shoreline or anywhere near a body of water. Sure I love a nice scenic view, but I'm not that nuts! With all the natural disasters and knowing that you live in a place where they do happen why take unnecessary risks like buying a house on sticks near a body of water and then being surprised when a natural disaster hits and you lose your home on sticks! I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean, it's just that I can't help being sarcastic because it just seems like these people should have known better and shouldn't be acting so surprised that these things happened!

I feel so sorry for those people too. We got the hurricane forced winds here in Indiana and it caused alot of damage and power outages here. I would be so afraid to live in a home on stilts in that area.

if they were smart enough to keep sinking the poles until it hit some kind of bedrock,it might be ok..as far as shifting..but that's no guarantee it won't wreck everything above the platform. but yea,that's pretty braindead.i wouldn't risk money on it.

You bring up a good question. You can go further why live where there is tornadoes or earth quakes? Why live where may be a forest fire? In Malibu the natural disasters are far and few between. It seems like there has been more in recent years with all the fires and then the floods and land slides that go alone with it. But the view is spectacular, to have a piece of beach of your own would be wonderful. Now that I said that would I buy a home on stilts, if I had enough money I probably would. I would have it for a vacation home. Now would I live in Texas where the heat is bad with the humidity. NO WAY. Now if the house was on stilts out someplace by a lake that did not have high humidity I think I would chance it. I feel we have to continue to live and be prepared for the worst but not live by the fear. Since I do not have the money for a house on stilts it is just a dream.

I live near the Mississippi river and there are a number of houses on stilts here. The reason they are on stilts is to prevent flooding when the river rises from rain or whatever. That might be the same reason that the houses are on the shoreline there are on stilts, but I don't know that for a fact, I am only guessing. As for the other, natural disasters such as hurricanes and such...I have no answer for that. I don't think I would want to live near the shoreline in any sort of house if it was an area in danger of hurricanes.

i used to live in the midwest, so i've seen my share of severe weather......thunder storms, tornados, snow and ice. but now i live in the weather vacuum of Las Vegas.......out here a light drizzle is considered severe weather. the only weather systems we get are HOT or COLD. i think i would break my neck if i tried to walk on stilts........definitely don't want my house built on them.

I think they build them that way because of flooding. It puts the house up high enough to not be flooded out by the majority of the floods or high storm waves. Nothing prevents damage when a strong hurricane comes along, though. I'm like you: give me solid, firm ground underneath and NOT on the shoreline! If I want to look at the sea, I'll drive there. My car can move a lot faster than my house can to get out of harm's way! Earthquake-prone areas are another place you won't find me living! I know that they are possible practically everywhere, but when there are several earthquakes in an area in recent history, nope, I'll stay away from there! I wouldn't even want to VISIT those areas! If I lived in Kansas, I'd move... quickly! At least before a tornado moved me! Oklahoma and Texas are two other places that I'd rather not live in because of tornados. We've had a few tornado warnings here where I live in Virginia but, knock on wood, I've never seen one. There was one (F-2) that came through the town I live outside of and there was one (an F-4) that ripped apart an entire town in Maryland where I used to live, but these things are rare in this part of the country. No earthquakes here and only a bit of rain and wind with minor damage and flooding from hurricanes that come up the east coast. I live on a mountain. Not the tippy top of a mountain, but on good solid rock! I like it and I'm not moving!

Hi pye, It is so sad to see those beautiful houses are nothing but rubbles now and its a horrible site to see I really feel for all those people. I always thought that the rich and famous people that lives in those houses that are buil on the shoreline. They must know that there must be risk of natural in the area as it is known for it. I just don't understand it, maybe for insurence perpuses I just don't know, but I wouldn't buy a house there. Tamara

A lot of the houses on stilts are still there. If they were tall enough. The ones that were lower to the ground are the houses that are gone. The surge wiped out the houses not the wind or flooding. So the houses built up on high stilts are still there. I am in the Houston area so I have seen a lot of the neighborhoods from helicopter just watching the local news. The seawall did its job so a lot of the damage the news is showing is on the side that doesn't have the sea wall. Also like all media, they want to show the bad part and they don't really bother showing all the houses that are still there b/c that obviously wouldn't be fun to look at.

I sure would NOT! They even have them on rivers banks in Tenn. and when thre river flows over they are nearly under water and we have seen house trailers floating down the river!

I don't know much about Texas, but where I am from in northern California there is a town which is notorious for flooding during the winter months. The housing there is ridiculously cheap and easy to rent if your credit is not perfect. Many of the towns inhabitants opt to live there for those reasons and because it is such a beautiful coastal area. I think like many of us, they must think "it will never happen to me". Unfortunately, none of us walk on water. No pun intended.

Personally I wouldn't feel safe in a house on stilts, give me firm inland anytime..but also if I lived in a state that was due to devastation by natural weather I would want to live more inland too...littleowl

Yes this has occured to me too once or twice. There is a certain attraction about living near to the sea I must admit, but when I think about it I always consider the down sides of it and it puts me off! I would definately stay further inland if I was going to move to the seaside, although that is rather unlikely due to the weather here in UK and the state of the economy!

It was discovered long ago that this was the best way to build along the water. Normally when there is a bit of a big tide, it can come through and not affect the homes. I know they don't look strong, but they are. In normal winds and normal tide water. It wasn't Ike's winds that bothered most of the homes there, but the water. And it didn't matter if they were on stilts or not, they got ruined. Think of it this way. If the area flooded 3 or 4 feet - which would devistate most homes - it would not have affected the homes on stilts at all.

i wouldnt even if i didnt live where disasters are. im moving back to AZ as bad as i hate it. its better than florida!