How to Harden Puerto Rico’s Grid Against Hurricanes

I can answer the inground houses or houses without basements bit. A lot of folks that do not live in Texas do not understand this part. We have expansive clay soils throughout the region which makes it more prone to flooding and more difficult to engineer for flooding as well as makes it very expensive if someone wants to build a home with a basement. Once the soil gets wet it expands and then the ground becomes almost impervious to further water absorption. Expansion of the soil would crush most basements as they are currently engineered in the Midwest. In Texas you will need heavy wall enforcement with steel in order for a basement to resist the crushing impact of the expansive soil which would put the home price out of reach for most folks. Hence most homes down here are built on what they call floating concrete foundations using torsion bars for added strength. The foundation rises and falls with the soil on it's concrete platform (that is correct the whole house shifts when it rains). You can hear the wood creak sometimes from the shifting if the clay soil is dry and we suddenly get a downpour. With a downpour only the first maybe 1/4 inch of water permates the soil and the rest of the water runs off. Thats why you see Dallas on the news a lot with flooding.....it's not because we are stupid down here. It is not easy to estimate in a specific area how impervious to rain the clay soil is. When you water sprinkle your lawn down here they recommend you use at least 2 short cycles vs 1 long cycle so that the water sinks in vs running off into the drainage sewer.

SPC Erich Guenther - I did know that. I should of said the ones that are built 'at ground level' and covered over with dirt and sod making them into nothing more than a little rounded hill. Same goes for the gulf states with their high water tables. We also use floating slabs for a lot of construction where the ground freezes and thaws. We also use Tornado Ties up here as I'm sure you do, but we sure as heck see a lot of houses with the whole roofs blown off even when they are used. I never said you were stupid down there, but it is obvious that something needs to be done differently. Of course, then we still have the wonderful problem of flooding you described and I don't think a house on stilts counts as a inground one. But I'm sure you agree that we do need to try something different.