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Pensacola Beach virtually destroyed, but Dome of a Home still stands!

Hurricane Ivan Report From the Dome of a Home

by Valerie Sigler

September 17, 2004

Mark's decision to stay in the Dome of a Home with the news crew from MSNBC during category 4 Hurricane Ivan was a testament to his faith in the structure that we had built. Kerry Sanders, the MSNBC correspondent, had been reporting on hurricanes for twenty-one years. He also felt confident in the engineering and design of the home. As I stayed in contact with Mark throughout the evening as Hurricane Ivan approached, he expressed surprise and delight with how well the structure was responding. Live coverage was broadcast on MSNBC until the equipment succumbed to the storm.

2:30 AM -- The eye of Hurricane Ivan is now making landfall. Pensacola Beach is in absolutely the worst position (upper right hand quadrant - east) as the storm arrives. Most of the MSNBC crew is asleep. Asleep? I guess that is testament to the confidence the crew had in the home and the fact that the noise from the storm was not unbearable. Mark is awake listening as the wind intensifies and the water is crashing across the island. The storm surge and rain caused five feet of water to rise underneath the dome. Mark says he can hear debris crashing into the dome, but does not feel any movement of the dome from the surging Gulf although the water is flowing over the entire island. Although he has no visual confirmation, he said it sounds like there are tornadoes howling around the island. The most unnerving sensation is the realization that there is no land until you reach Gulf Breeze.

7:30 AM -- Daylight has brought devastating visuals of a storm whose damage far exceeds that of Hurricane Opal in 1995.

The Dome of a Home has maintained its structural integrity! Everyone is safe and the home will be livable again with some necessary repairs. We did have wind driven rain leak through the windows and flood the floors. The good news is that the dome is still standing, albeit with some exterior damage from the staircases that were ripped away by the waves. The geo-thermal system is damaged, the fences gone, and the garage concrete floor has disappeared.

Mark has been traipsing across the island and says that the devastation is extensive. All lower floors are gone with the blow-out walls doing exactly as designed -- being blown away, literally. It seems evident the entire beach was covered with at least 5 feet of water. All of the garages and their concrete floors have disappeared. The Catholic Church's roof has sustained much damage and the school looks like it has been hit hard. Homes that were older and still on the ground level have basically vanished. The surge has subsided on the Gulf side, but the Sound side of the island is still under waist deep water.

Read the report filed by the MSNBC reporter, Kerry Sanders, that rode out the storm in the dome with Mark.

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