Homeowners share unique ways to fortify homes after storms

Roof, walls and floors. There’s so much to think about when you’re rebuilding after a storm.

WINK News anchor Lindsey Sablan caught up with two islanders on Sanibel who spent the last two years figuring out how to rebuild in order to withstand hurricanes.

It has been 27 long months since Hurricane Ian, and Melissa Laidlaw’s yard is still showing signs of wear from the storm. She lives on the west end of Sanibel. Since then, in 2022, her yard has been inundated with salt water six times.

However, she’s finally found something that works. She implemented a meadow of grass.

“It’s a meadow of grass that’s called spartina, and it’s doing great. It loves the salt. Every plant that is left in my yard is salt resistant,” Laidlaw said.

This might seem like a small celebration, but she had over 400 plants delivered right before Ian and lost most. It’s an investment.

Laidlaw found a lot that has worked to fortify her home since Hurricane Ian.

“We have built back resiliently with plastic walls up to 51 inches that can be easily removed, cleaned, dried out behind it, put back up,” she said.

We asked her to elaborate on the walls being tested.

“We finished it actually before Helene, so they’ve been tested twice. They’ve gone through two storms. Helene was only 18 inches. Milton went up to three feet,” Laidlaw said.

You pop them right off, clean and dry them, and then they go right back in. She’s been using A-zek to flood-proof her walls.

“It’s a material that’s actually used for sheathing houses on the outdoor outside, but they make an inferior product,” Laidlaw said.

She’s even found water and mold-resistant insulation.

“It’s R-11 insulation, which has dramatically helped my air conditioning upstairs,” she said.

It’s not only functional. It doesn’t have to be ugly. Unless you knocked on these walls, you wouldn’t realize it was all styrofoam that they just put oil-based paint all over.

Across the road, Bob Moore found other solutions.

“We had wind damage to the site, had vinyl siding on the house, so we’ve since replaced that with a siding that’s rated up to 180 miles an hour,” Moore said.

Another issue during and after a hurricane is no power.

“We decided to put in batteries after Ian, which we did at the beginning of this summer, and so when Milton struck, and we were without power again for four or five days this summer, we were operating like normal,” Moore said.

It’s one of the most unique things he’s heard on the island.

Sablan even found a product called EVP, which stands for extreme vehicle protection. Depending on your car’s size, it costs between $250 and $400.

“A bag that you can drive your car up onto, pull the bag up around it, zip it closed, and it seals your bag, your vehicle against flooding, and this couple used it successfully in Milton with their golf cart,” Moore said.

These islanders are living out the phrase: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

However, as we’ve learned in our hurricanes, we are stronger together, which is why Moore is working with Sancap Resilience and its “neighbor to neighbor” program.

He’s asking you to submit ideas—what’s worked and what hasn’t—and he’ll round them up and share them all together. Click here for more information.