After Hurricane Ike bashed a hole in their roof and left their first floor uninhabitable, FEMA experts recommended that Galveston (TX) residents Matt and Lauren Johnson elevate their home 3′ above the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program.
The Johnsons went for 12′ instead.
“Even if it costs us more now, whatever costs us less in the long-run is what we’re going for. We’re going to do this right so it will be here in 100 years for our children and our grandchildren,” they reported.
Bravo.
For more information on the many benefits (and surprisingly low cost of) freeboard, see Using Freeboard to Elevate Structures Above Predicted Floodwaters.
“A Home Above the Rest: Homeowner in City of Galveston Elevates Home 12 Feet” (FEMA.gov)