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Steel Standing After Dangerous Hurricane Ike Devastates Texas

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brick home with quonset hut with white endwall at the end of the driveway
Widespread coastal flooding, winds over 110 mph, and a 6.8 m storm surge all contributed to devastating losses in Texas after Hurricane Ike walloped the area back in 2008.

This deadly storm cost millions in damages, thousands of residents had to be rescued and several even lost their lives. Yet in the middle of this devastating storm, the Brugman family’s SteelMaster Building was still standing and everything inside was untouched.

“The building was a lifesaver,” says Greg Brugman. “Thankfully it was coated with Galvalume or it would be a complete rust bucket.”

Galvalume is a dry, clear, organic resin standard coating that helps to protect the steel arches while also keeping energy costs down.

When the storm was approaching, The Brugman family moved to a hotel four hours away. While they took shelter in another area, the category 2 hurricane smashed into the coast and left millions of people without power, and destroyed homes and businesses.

Knowing what kind of damage this storm had done to the area, Greg was terrified about what he would find when he returned home after the hurricane was over.

“My current elevation is approximately 8 feet above sea level, and our home revealed 5” of standing water,” said Brugman. “I along with a close friend and my brother-in-law ripped out the entire contents of my home from the bottom to 8’ — the only thing left was sheetrock on the ceilings, plumbing in the walls, and soaked studs.”

But when he went to check out his SteelMaster building, everything was exactly as he had left it, including two betta fish that were happily swimming in their tank.

SteelMaster’s buildings are known for surviving some of the most dangerous weather events around the world. Our arch panels are High-Velocity Hurricane Zone certified and can withstand the strongest winds.

Hurricane Ike was not the first time a SteelMaster building has proven its strength.

In 2004, Hurricane Charley slammed into the West Coast of Florida as a devastating category 4 storm, costing billions in damages and also killing 10 people.

But SteelMaster customer Scott Rambo says his building survived the storm.

“Our SteelMaster made it through Charley with flying colors,” said Scott Rambo. “Our building made it through a category 4 hurricane without even a wrinkle in the panels.”

Hurricanes, tornadoes, nor dangerous floods are strong enough to knock down a SteelMaster building.

SteelMaster’s buildings have been tested over and over again and have proven to continue to be some of the strongest structures on Earth.