Minimise your Fear of Storms

There are few words which spread more fear and trepidation in the Caribbean than ‘storm’ and ‘hurricane’.  
The more first hand experience, the greater the cold spinal shiver and, as regular as clockwork, those TV predictions make weather reports the worst news of the day.

The best way to minimise your fear of storms, is by being proactive, making a plan and taking action.

You can’t stop storms, but you can learn from the past, adjust, even change your risk factors by building  effective resistance against a common annual enemy.

If you have already had a taste of what nature can do, you are well aware of the weakness in your building defences and have hopefully addressed them.  If not, imagine your building as a tent, placed in the path of persistent high winds and driving rain.

The wind lifts your entire structure as it gusts and with its energy, it places the guy ropes and pegs which hold the tent down,
at high risk, systematically pulling the covering from its anchors.

The way the wind flows around the tent creates a fluid motion levering the weakest points, while twisting and bending the structure.  This is known as torque and on any building is the most lethal of actions, on the way to disaster.

The torrential rain on the other hand has
a three pronged attack.  

• Firstly, the consistent down weight on the roof pressurises the structure, forcing energy to its anchors and attempting to dislocate them.  
• Secondly, the ensuing flood of rain will attempt to wash out and destabilise the ground and immediate surroundings.  
• Thirdly, a massive accumulation of water, forced through small spaces and blockages near your tent, will potentially wash your structure away and with it, risk loss of life and massive exposure.

Your building is a thousand times more resilient than a simple tent, but the same forces apply.

Creating any durable structure requires strong foundations, a reliable, energy dispersing, well anchored framework (columns, beams, joists, rafters, etc), an aerodynamically sound and well constructed sealed covering and effective means to quickly disperse water away from the building and its surroundings.