Hurricanes are Earth’s most intense storms, generating astounding winds and torrential rain. When a hurricane makes landfall, damage is often calculated in the tens of billions of dollars. Homes are destroyed, businesses are ruined, and floodwaters, widespread destruction, and utility interruptions paralyze entire towns.

Building with sturdy materials such as steel and concrete might seem like the obvious solution to riding out these storms with less damage — but don’t count out timber frame construction. At Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, we’ve supplied beams for projects throughout the southeastern US, including TerraNova Equestrian Center in Myakka City, Florida. In 2022, we saw firsthand how timber structures can survive storm season when our timber frame pavilion there made it through Category 4 Hurricane Ian.

Read on to discover why building with timber can be advantageous in hurricane-prone areas in the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and beyond.

1. Flexibility & Strength of Wood – Flexibility is key. Timber framing’s inherent ability to move and flex in the heavy winds of a hurricane means it won’t crack and break under stress like rigid stick-built construction. As the large timber beams and posts bend slightly under the load of strong winds, they retain their integrity and distribute the force, absorbing the impact and standing up to the storm.
2. Timber Frame Design – The heavy, interlocking beams and joints of timber framing create a strong and stable core for residential and commercial applications. The post-and-beam design, combined with the previously mentioned flexibility of the wood, allows a structure to move and dissipate the force of the gales. By reducing stress on any one point of the structure, the odds of surviving a storm greatly increase.
3. High-Performance Connections – Using advanced CAD modeling software and CNC machinery, timber frame connections can be designed and engineered with more precision than ever. This allows them to meet the most demanding engineering criteria, maintaining high performance and keeping timber frames intact in the face of hurricanes.
4. Energy-Efficient & Weather-Resistant Components – Today’s timber frame structures are typically built with modern insulation and weatherproofing techniques, making them airtight and impervious to the heavy rains that hurricanes can blow from all angles. Preventing water infiltration during a storm is essential to minimizing structural damage and saving interior rooms, furniture, and possessions.
5. Heightened Safety Features – While the addition of storm shutters, reinforced foundations, and wind-resistant roofing isn’t uncommon in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, when added to timber buildings, they improve the odds of that structure’s survival even further.

In the path of the most formidable storms on Earth, no structure is 100% infallible. However, because timber framing flexes while staying strong and not cracking or splitting, homes and other buildings can move with the wind instead of being torn apart or knocked down. Technological advancements in construction software, machinery, and weatherproofing have also increased timber frame structures’ durability in the face of storms.

Before your next project, contact us to learn more about how timber framing can keep your structure standing in even the most brutal conditions.