Storage Building Survives Hurricane Ian

Living in Florida off and on throughout his life, SteelMaster customer Carl D. is used to to hurricanes. Carl’s city of Punta Gorda was hit by Hurricane Charley in 2004, and he had heard many stories about the destruction left in its path. 

He called SteelMaster Buildings searching for a building to use for storage and a hurricane shelter. Carl had recently bought a small farm about 17 miles away from his home where he kept his RV, trailer, four-wheeler and other “toys,” which he wanted to make sure would be safe during hurricane season.

National Sales Manager Cameron Cotterell helped Carl design a building that withstands up to 190 mph winds. And, After Market Specialist Matt Littlefield assisted with Carl’s post-purchase needs. 

“I didn’t think we would have winds that high. I just wanted it to be more than enough because it was going to be our hurricane shelter,” Carl said.

Carl enlisted the help of Danny Forbess of S.O.K construction, who specializes in building arch style structures.

When hurricane Ian hit, Carl and his family retreated to the safety of their building, which was fully equipped with electricity and plumbing, thanks to a generator. 

“We had A/C in our RV and a television. It wasn’t a bad way to camp out in a bad situation,” Carl said.

They were in the eye wall of the storm for about three hours, enduring seven inches of rain each hour and reported 130 mph winds.

Once the storm had died down, Carl went outside to inspect the damage to his property. Existing buildings from the previous owner were no match to the devastating winds.

Meanwhile, Carl’s Quonset building was not damaged at all.

“[The building] will be around a long time. It will outlive me,” Carl said.

Carl says the added benefits of having a Quonset building are the cost effectiveness and quick construction.

 “Given you know what you’re doing or have a knowledgeable contractor, you cannot put up a building that quickly and have a building that strong. It was just kind of a no brainer. I just wanted something durable and quick to put up and it served both of those purposes. I’m very pleased with it.”

 Overall, Carl was extremely pleased with his experience with SteelMaster.

“Matt Littlefield was extremely helpful, extremely patient with me. The SteelMaster organization seemed like a company I wanted to work with,” Carl said.