What is the Hurricane House?

The UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County Regional Windstorm Damage Mitigation Training and Demonstration Center (a.k.a. The Hurricane House) is one of several across Florida. The St. Lucie County Hurricane House was funded courtesy of the Florida Department of Insurance. Technical support was provided by the University of Florida Program for Resource Efficient Communities. Additionally, several donors contributed to this project.

The Florida Department of Insurance entered into a contract with the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing at the University of Florida to supervise the design and construction of the Hurricane Houses. The other Hurricane Houses are located in St. Johns, Escambia and Broward Counties.

The original concept for the Hurricane House is for it to appear like a residential structure on the order of 3,000 square feet. Inside the building was a lobby/reception area flanked by an office. A training room with a 40-50 person capacity is the central feature of the building. The facility was built using alternative building systems.

The Hurricane House is conveniently located at UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County facility at 8350 Picos Road in Ft. Pierce. For more information, please call (772) 462-1660.

Hurricane House Floor Plan

Construction Products

Wall System

ARXX formerly Blue Maxx Wall Systems
12085 Brookfield Club Drive
Roswell, GA 30075

Concrete Walls

Tarmac America
11000 SW 121st Way
Medley, FL 33178

Windows

Andersen Corporation
100 Fourth Avenue North
Bayport, MN 55003

CGI Corp.
7840 N.W. 62nd Street
Miami, FL 33166

Glass Entrance Door

Solutia, Inc.
3225 South McDill Avenue
Tampa, FL 33629

Shingles

Florida Marketing Associates
CertainTeed Corp.
7846 NW 136th Terr
Ocala, FL 34482

Skylights

Falkner Plastics, Inc.
4504 East Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa, FL 33610

Hurricane Tie Downs

Simpson Strong Tie
3214 West Talcon Street
Tampa, FL 33629

Window Shutters

Roll-a-Way
10597 Oak Street NE
St. Petersburg, FL 33716

Garage Door Reinforcement

Secure Door
1312 Pepper Tree Place
Rockledge, FL 32955

Sheathing-to-truss Adhesive

Hurricane Evaluation and Prevention
3884 Progress Avenue
Naples, FL 34104

HVAC System

Carrier Corp.
2000 Park Oaks Avenue
Orlando, FL 32808

Important Links

Rezazadeh, A., (2023) Hurricane Preparation Practices for Fruit Trees – UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County (ufl.edu)

UF/IFAS Disaster Preparation and Recovery https://disaster.ifas.ufl.edu/

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The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With offices in each of Florida’s 67 counties, UF/IFAS Extension works to bring science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.

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