Tips to Protect a Tiny House from Hurricane Threats
Are you considering the build of a tiny home? If you are like me, and trying to become part of the “Small House Movement” – building a house under 500 square feet, there is no doubt you’ve researched floor plans and narrowed down the size and amenities you’d like in a tiny house. But, what happens when that home is potentially threatened by a natural disaster?
With recent natural catastrophic events, like hurricanes and deadly tropical storms, I began researching ways in which to best protect a tiny house. If I plan to build a tiny home on wheels, these steps will be necessary to ensure all of my hard work is not wiped out in one storm, leaving me homeless. If you are building a tiny house as well, here is what you need to know.
Moving to Higher Ground
When news of a tropical storm or hurricane begins to be announced, be sure you are paying attention to the path of the storm. While I plan to live off the grid, I do recognize that I will need to pay close attention to weather and news reports daily so be sure you are keeping in touch with these necessary life connections. If your tiny house can be moved easily, when a disastrous storm is approaching, then move to higher ground. Typically, you can find someone who will allow you to move your home into their yard, or you can move to an RV park for a few days while the storm passes
Protecting Windows
If your tiny house cannot be moved easily, then it will be time to take other precautions to protect your property. For small homes, wind and flying debris are the greatest cause of damage in addition to flooding. So, it will be important to protect the windows and the roof of the tiny house. To safely ensure windows remain intact, tape the windows from the inside and then use plywood to cover the windows form the outside. This will create a double barrier against wind and debris.
Monitor Flood Waters
To protect the roof of your tiny home, a tarp will be necessary and, if you can, put memory foam on the roof to protect against wind and debris that may pull shingles off of the roof. While memory foam may be costly, it is necessary to ensure shingles are not blown, and that rain water does not seep into the house.
Beyond taping and covering windows, and protecting the roof, the only protection measure you can feasibly take with a tiny house is to surround the home with sandbags. In doing so, you may be able to prevent some of the flood water from rising into the tiny house, destroying the floor and baseboards. For tiny homes on wheels, there would have to be more than a foot of rain to cause significant damage.
Just like many tiny home builders, I’ve found there are issues I must address beyond building the home. To ensure my house is safe during a natural weather event, these are the steps I plan to implement and I invite my fellow tiny house builders to do the same.
Resources:
FEMA Ready Website
Protect Your Home Against a Hurricane
