Surviving a Super Typhoon (Odette Lessons)

I saw roofs flying like frisbees.

During Typhoon Odette, I saw 50-year-old trees snap. I saw “solid” houses lose their entire second floor. Why? Uplift.

The Wind wants to lift your roof.

Most people build for gravity (Down). The wind pulls UP. If your roof is just nailed to the trusses… goodbye roof. If your trusses are just resting on the beams… goodbye trusses.

How to keep your roof attached

1. J-Bolts are trash. Don’t use J-Bolts to hold your trusses. Use Expansion Anchors or cast-in-place straps. Wrap the steel strap around the beam.

2. The Screw Spacing Roofing sheets usually have screws every 2 or 3 waver. In the Philippines? Every wave. Yes, it costs double in screws. But screws are 2 pesos. A new roof is 200,000 pesos.

3. The Overhang Big eaves look nice. But they act like a parachute. If you have wide eaves (over 1 meter), you need to board them up (Soffits). If wind gets under the eaves, it lifts the whole house.

Windows

If a window breaks, the wind gets inside. If the wind gets inside, the pressure builds up. BOOM. The roof pops off. Get typhoon-rated windows (Tempered glass + heavy duty frames). Or spend your life taping windows with masking tape (which doesn’t work, btw).

Summary

Gravity is easy. Wind is the enemy. Bolt everything down.