Hurricane Resistant Earthbag Houses

Steve and Carol Escott’s hurricane resistant earthbag house in the Bahamas.
Steve and Carol Escott’s hurricane resistant earthbag house in the Bahamas.

Earthbag building is perfect for constructing storm resistant affordable housing in hurricane and tornado regions. Steve and Carol Escott’s house for instance has been through numerous hurricanes with no serious damage so far.

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Earthbag Building Philippines

Simple, low cost, hurricane resistant earthbag house in the Philippines
Simple, low cost, hurricane resistant earthbag house in the Philippines

“I have been interested in building techniques for a few years, with dreams of one day building a small castle. A conversation with Louis, a Dutch friend, introduced me to earthbag building techniques. Essentially, this involves filling rice bags with soil, tamping them down and using the blocks to build a structure. It is a cheap and effective way of building using local labour and materials.

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A Small Octagonal House for Hurricanes and Tornadoes


“This octagon house was built as a ‘granny cabin’ with tornadoes in mind. After Hurricane Katrina tore down his house Paul built himself a dome and his mom an octagon. This is what he has to say about it!”

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Earthbag Domes Survive Hurricane Chapala

Earthbag domes before the hurricane
Earthbag domes before the hurricane

“Hi Owen, Our earthbag dome has not been finished, we ran out of budget. The Chapala cyclone hit the area with very severe storms and rains a few weeks ago, here are the walls before and after.”

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Survival Tactics: Dirt Cheap Bullet-Proof Earthbag Shelters


“Environmentalist’s best kept secret and the concrete industry’s worst nightmare… … the earthbag method means that you can build a small retreat to withstand bullets, floods, hurricanes, storms and fires much better than a conventional house.”

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Massive Earthbag Retaining Walls

Massive earthbag retaining walls like this are quite common
Massive earthbag retaining walls like this are quite common

I have to laugh when people keep asking me if earthbag building is strong. Earthbags (sand bags) have centuries of use by militaries worldwide, because they’re bomb, blast and bullet resistant. Millions of sand bags are used each year for flood control to stop raging rivers. As well, earthbag building is earthquake and hurricane resistant.

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