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ABCNEWS.com : Dome Home Built to Withstand Hurricanes

Eye on the Storms
Home Built to Withstand Hurricanes and to Enjoy a Beachfront View

Sept. 4, 2004 Huiet Paul understands the brute strength of hurricanes: In 1989, Hurricane Hugo wiped out his family's Sullivans Island, S.C., home.
Paul and his son George were determined to rebuild within view of the beach, but resolved not to let the family home be destroyed again.

"We had to replace it with something that we thought would still be here after several more hurricanes," Huiet Paul told ABC News' Good Morning America. "We knew George had the answer. And it is really after Hugo our friends on the island didn't know what to do, and we thought we needed to set up an example for them as well as for the East Coast and Gulf Coast. So this is it."

In 1991, the Pauls built "The Eye of the Storm," an elliptical dome-shaped home meant to allow winds to flow around the structure. Theoretically, it would survive even a strong hurricane because of its aerodynamic construction, chosen for "the same reason that a race car is not built like a bread truck," George Paul said.

"It looks round but it is oval, elliptical, and it is 80 feet along the ocean," Paul said. "We were going round at first but we decided to take advantage of the view of the ocean and so it's 80 feet across the ocean and 57 1/2 [feet] from the ocean toward the back."

The structure is secured into the base with pilings, and vents at the base are designed to allow floodwaters to pass underneath with minimal damage.

"These openings [allow] a hurricane surge to pass through with very little damage to the house," Paul said. "It might take out a dressing room or so, but the house would be there and the people would probably still be in it."

Still to Be Tested

The home has not yet been put through a full-force test
"We really haven't had that much of a storm," Paul said. "The last three weeks we've been cleaning up from our neighbors' shingles and debris. But we really haven't had anything to talk about more than about 70 miles an hour in this area. But we've had these threats."

They believe they may be ready for the worst. But the Pauls won't necessarily be sticking around if things get really rough.

"A category five [hurricane], maybe we should leave because no electricity and all of that," Paul said. "We like the conveniences of home."