Originally Posted By: adam2
In areas prone to earthqaukes and wildfires, consider building a fire and qauke resistant storage shed/gargage on your land.
If your house is uninhabitable, it might be possible to live short term in this structure, especialy if it could be extended by tents or awnings.
Re-inforced concrete construction should withstand all but the very worst events.
A number of firms offer to build concrete tornado shelters, such would also appear to be fire and qauke resistant and might be worth considering even in areas with little tornado risk.

If flooding is the main risk, consider not only a two storey house, but remember to keep important supplies and equipment upstairs.



This is the approach I have used. I built a small storage shed, just big enough for two adults to sleep comfortably in, and stand up comfortably with a couple feet over head. When I was building it, the neighbors asked if I was building an ark, it looked so strong. They said if it flooded, I could just get in and float away. It's post and beam style construction with 4" X 6" doug fir studs, all joined with galvanized steel plate fastenings and screwed, not nailed, together. It was so much fun to build, I built two of them. The outside is painted half-inch plywood siding completely covered with salvaged license plates screwed on shingle style to shed rain, reflect sunlight to keep the shed cool, and to help protect the exterior from the elements.