http://www.ireport.com/blogs/ireport-blog/2008/09/18/the-last-house-standing

DAMN

I want that guy to build my next house.

Quote :

"Yesterday, we received an amazing submission from iReport.com user austinheli. His photos showed a lone house standing in a wasteland left in Ike's aftermath. We contacted austinheli, who is Ray Asgar, a private helicopter pilot based in Austin, Texas. He visited Gilchrist and Galveston Monday to photograph the damage left after Hurricane Ike slammed the coastal area last weekend. The lone yellow house caught Asgar's attention. He said it was the only structure standing for miles. Considering the extent of Ike's devastation, he said, it was "odd to have nearly any damage to one home." Several users left comments on Asgar's iReport, joining a debate about whether or not his photos were real. One user who jumped in was Kelley1. "This is my sister's house. It is real," she wrote. Shortly afterward, Kelley1 uploaded a photo of the yellow house that was taken in May. Kelley1 is Judy Hudspeth and the house belongs to her sister, Pam Adams. Pam and Warren Adams rebuilt their home in February 2006 after Hurricane Rita destroyed it the previous year. Hudspeth said that the couple hired a contractor to build a home that could withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Warren Adams watched over every step of the construction to make sure it was done correctly. The couple evacuated to a friend's house in Lufkin, Texas, hours before Ike made landfall last week. Hudspeth said they've been without power since Saturday, and that her sister was "hysterical" when she initially heard everything was gone in Gilchrist. Pam and Warren have since learned that their house is one of the few in the area to survive the storm. They are returning to see the devastating damage today. "

9/18/2008 5:11:49 PM

Same thing happened in Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Some huge subdivision in Homestead, FL was destroyed but there was one house still standing. Turns out it was a Habitat for Humanity house.

9/18/2008 5:14:42 PM

you dont need a house like that unless you are at the beach

9/18/2008 5:15:25 PM

Now they can just walk around naked with the blinds open and all. It'd be crazy as hell coming home for them, weird

9/18/2008 5:24:15 PM

pixels

9/18/2008 5:24:55 PM

modular, i'm sure

9/18/2008 5:27:31 PM

its one thing to build a house that can withstand a strong hurricane's winds and rain

its another lucky fucking break to not have any of the other shitty collapsing houses' debris blowing into your house at 200 miles per hour

9/18/2008 5:31:37 PM

pixels

9/18/2008 5:32:07 PM

haha, I cant even imagine how expensive that cost to build and how much steel there is in that house

9/18/2008 5:33:26 PM

too fucking much.

9/18/2008 5:38:11 PM

fake, I can tell by the pixels for I have seen this many times.

9/18/2008 5:39:48 PM

that sucks, Id rather have my house be demolished than have that. The value of the house dropped probably (because of the area) and if they rebuild, construction is going to be around them 24/7. Take the insurance money and move on.

9/18/2008 5:40:53 PM

haha they should have just snuck in there and burned it to the ground

9/18/2008 5:41:59 PM

ah ha- i commented on this a couple hours ago in the "hurricanes give me hard-ons" thread

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html#photo11

[Edited on September 18, 2008 at 5:58 PM. Reason : spelling Ø]

9/18/2008 5:50:37 PM

^^^fuck that

they finally have an unabated view of the ocean

^some awesome pics in that link

[Edited on September 18, 2008 at 5:54 PM. Reason : .]

9/18/2008 5:51:09 PM

Quote :

"they finally have an unabated view of the ocean"

9/18/2008 6:28:31 PM

it's amazing that a boat didn't get thrown through the side of the house at 150 miles an hour.

Transmission lines along the outer banks are designed to withstand Category 4 winds, but that doesn't prevent trees from taking them out.

9/18/2008 6:50:41 PM

I love these pics

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html#photo11

9/18/2008 10:33:25 PM

I am a certified photoshop expert, and I can tell you without a doubt due to my pixel experience, that this is a shop.

9/18/2008 10:37:01 PM

wow

9/18/2008 10:42:36 PM

2 dope

9/18/2008 10:43:09 PM

Quote :

"hey finally have an unabated view of the ocean"

and listen to this photoshop expert guy. pretty creepy sh!t.

9/18/2008 10:50:58 PM

i don't know where you guys get your thinking of "stuff flying through the air at 150 mph" thoughts from but they are absurd.

9/18/2008 10:54:33 PM

Doesn't look like a shop

9/18/2008 10:59:13 PM

Fux no. Several news articles about it and different shots.

http://news.aol.com/article/how-did-lone-home-survive-ike/180724
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/09/15/vo.gilchrist.cnn

Second one is a link showing the exact location of the house and Google Earths image of the area.

9/18/2008 11:04:54 PM

not a photoshop

saw this story on tv tonight, the couple that built the house saw it for the first time.........their belongings inside are ruined........they said they will not be returning to live there again.

9/18/2008 11:06:38 PM

Roads still there

9/18/2008 11:30:49 PM

Quote :

"haha, I cant even imagine how expensive that cost to build and how much steel there is in that house"

Well it looks like it's built on a 6" in slab of concrete. Most commercial buildings have a 4" slab. That's a big cost right there.

He needs to order some flowable fill and patch around the bottom of it before it starts to crack though.

9/18/2008 11:45:16 PM

yeah, it doesn't matter how strong the house is if the foundation is shit.

9/18/2008 11:49:13 PM

9/19/2008 12:05:12 AM

Quote :

"Some huge subdivision in Homestead, FL was destroyed but there was one house still standing. Turns out it was a Habitat for Humanity house. "

It's those damn kids who learn how to drive a nail for the first time. Then they feel like they have to put one every 1/2 inch.

9/19/2008 12:13:06 AM

9/19/2008 12:15:10 AM

^^LOL

9/19/2008 12:23:55 AM

it was prolly like the newest kid on the block or something

9/19/2008 12:31:29 AM

Looks like it barely made it...if the storm was any worse the water could have undercut the whole foundation or just floated it away.

9/19/2008 12:50:18 AM

lol at Str8bacardi

that house is definitely the opposite of FAIL

9/19/2008 12:51:20 AM

Quote :

"i don't know where you guys get your thinking of "stuff flying through the air at 150 mph" thoughts from but they are absurd. "

not all the debris be flying through the air during a category 5 hurricane. it would be getting tossed around in the waves that come with a 15-25 foot tidal surge. Keep in mind that the parking area of this house was under water during the hurricane.

With that in mind, plenty of the neighor's shit would have been tossed into the side of the house when the winds were gusting parallel to the beach before and after the eye passed.

9/19/2008 9:15:19 PM

I think i've figured out the problem.....

You're building houses on the beach, which is fluid and made of sand!


[Edited on September 19, 2008 at 9:23 PM. Reason : .]

9/19/2008 9:22:51 PM

jesus, wasn't Ike only a Cat 2????

since when do cat 2 hurricanes completely obliterate shit?

9/19/2008 10:32:36 PM

Quote :

"that house is definitely the opposite of FAIL"

Not really. It's an expensive barely fail. The house will either have to be rebuilt or atleast partially rebuilt (that is IF the town is allowed to). A portion or the roof collapsed and sea water did make it in.

9/19/2008 10:41:29 PM

still, if its real, that's a pretty baller house to withstand that hurricane.

9/20/2008 1:12:25 AM