When Mother Nature unleashes a hurricane, she's saying in no uncertain terms that she intends to huff and puff and blow your house down. Local structures should survive smaller hurricanes, but bigger ones would wreak havoc. When Mother Nature unleashes a hurricane, she's saying in no uncertain terms that she intends to huff and puff and blow your house down. Forget straw, sticks or even bricks, because building inspectors say there is really not much to do except hope a structure will survive.
Building codes provide a good benchmark.
They are a sort of reassuring security blanket to clutch when a storm hits. Ultimately, though, when talking about the destructive forces packed into a hurricane, there are no sure things, says Gregori S. Anderson, director of building inspections for Chatham County. Currently, in Chatham County, the standard building codes dictate structures must be able to sustain 90 mph winds. The same standard is used in Savannah. On Tybee Island and other beachfront communities, the minimum standard is 100 mph.