Well, it's six months later and we are still in Hurricane Hell. Although the debris piles are getting smaller, it still looks like a war zone here. Repairs are slowly but surely being made. Many people, like us, are still waiting on insurance settlements. Because the need for workers is so great and the money is slow to come, having repairs done is a torturous ordeal. Four months -- -- -- 4 months, we have waited to have concrete poured underneath the Dome.



Hallelujah! The day has come!
Saturday, March 6, 2005 is a turning point for the Dome of Home, and for us psychologically. The concrete underneath the dome and the footers for the staircase have been poured. Finally! We can get started rebuilding the Staircase to Heaven. This is encouraging; for so long we have just sat and waited and waited and waited and waited some more. But what can you do? Supply and demand definitely dictate the time scale on which repairs are made. Patience has never been my virtue, and quite honestly, it still isn't.

I will feel so much better once the staircases are back in place. I miss the Dome's arms embracing me as I walk up the stairs. I miss the fountain splashing out her hello, as we drive up the drive way. Her torn skin distresses me. I feel like a mother looking at her scarred child. She looks battle worn. She looks tired.



But, she is VICTORIOUS!!!
Battered and bruised on the outside, strong and secure on the inside.
She is still standing strong, performing exactly as she was designed through the very intense Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004. The staircases broke away as code demands. Otherwise, the churning water would undermine the ring beam and threatened the structure. By breaking away easily, they did not put stress and strain on the Dome itself. All of the concrete underneath the Dome washed away, as designed.
The swimming pool is buried under feet and feet of sand. I think we'll leave it for
and feet of sand. I think we'll leave it for the archaeologists to find in the future. Mark is working on a new design for a swimming pool that won't be so vulnerable. The landscaping and fences are no where to be found. We haven't decided how to simplify and improve those aspects yet. But, we are contemplating a few avenues to reduce the loss risk. Every storm teaches us something. Lots of lessons beckon this time.

Ironically, on September 13, 2004, the Travel Channel aired a program called Amazing Vacation Homes featuring the Dome of a Home. Fortunately, this means there is a permanent record of how beautiful the Dome and its landscaping were before Hurricane Ivan devastated Pensacola Beach, Florida. Since Hurricane Ivan, the Dome of a Home has been featured in numerous articles in a variety of media outlets. I am currently trying to update that list for the web site. Evidently, it has been featured many times that I'm not aware of. I could use everyone's help collecting that data. Please send it to me at domeofahome@aol.com . If you've seen it on a TV show, read about it in the newspaper or magazine, please send me what information you have so I can update my "In The Media" list.

And the media coverage continues. Today, we had a journalist call from the UK who is collecting data it to do a story about Hurricane Ivan and other intense weather storms. Twice in the past couple of months, Mark has been a guest of Rebecca Bookout's cable program Santa Rosa Insider: Weathering the Storm. The program dealt with the issues people have been facing since Hurricane Ivan slammed us in September 2004. From insurance questions to building codes to the Dome of a Home, Rebecca Bookout brought much needed information to our area and helped to educate the public. Many thanks to Rebecca, Cristin, and the Mediacom crew that brought the informative program to us each Wednesday night.

Quite honestly, I felt much more would be done by the six-month mark. Recovery was much further along by this point after the 1995 hurricanes. Of course, Hurricane Opal, looks like child's play compared to Hurricane Ivan. Absolutely no comparison: these were not equal category three hurricanes.



As if the devastation were not enough in itself, the victims of Hurricane Ivan have another nightmare to contend with. The very company you paid to "insure" that you have peace of mind is making Hurricane Hell even hotter. Every day in our local paper, the Pensacola News Journal, articles detailing the insurance debacle appear. It is extremely distressing to understand that although you pay your premiums on time and in good faith, the insurance company does not respect the insured enough to act honorably. They charge more, cover less, and sue claimants to delay payments for all clients facing total losses. I won't go into details here, but if you are interested www.pensacolanewsjournal.com carries many articles. Search: Citizen's Property Insurance.

I have spent a lot of time talking to my neighbors and looking at their devastated houses. Each and every day I am more and more grateful that we took the plunge and built the Dome. In comparison, well, basically there is no comparison. The Dome of a Home certainly proved herself. Many of the new homes faired much better than the older homes, but most still had damage because of the soffit design. The soffits allow the water to course into the home, damaging the interior and creating the moisture Petri dish for mold to grow rampantly.

Media coverage of the Dome of a Home continues. On Tuesday, October 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, experience firsthand the fury of these violent storms as National Geographic Channel's "Hurricane Summer" takes viewers from the eye of these monsters to the personal stories on the ground. The Sigler's will tell of their experience and how the "Dome Home" handled her first major test.



ADVERTISEMENT BLIP:
He designed the house after his old one was destroyed by Hurricane Opal in 1995. He wanted his new one to be "indestructible," so his research led him to the architecturally strong dome shape.
But even his house's 17-feet-deep pilings need something to sink into. When the Gulf waters wash onto the island where Pensacola Beach is located, they could liquefy the sand and set his house loose or sinking.



Ivan's waves and storm surge got into the ground floor of his Dome of a Home. But after Ivan wiped out 250 feet of beachfront and protective sand dunes, he thinks the waves pushed by Dennis could reach the second floor.

I wrote this as Hurricane Ivan was rapidly approaching Pensacola Beach, FL. Mark and I stayed in contact for as long as possible. The MSNBC crew 'riding out the storm' also had a satellite phone to theoretically keep their news affiliates updated. Ironically, their equipment continued to function, but the less fortunate crew in Gulf Breeze, FL lost connection. (Black italic print are my additions after the storm passed.)



Because of the power disruption in Florida, my webmaster could not post news updates. Since I was in Montana and fully powered, the format I could use most easily was the Forum. What follows below is what was posted on the Forum:

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

When Ivan was just a tropical storm out in the Atlantic, Mark had a strong feeling he would be visiting our shores. I wanted to dismiss his premonitions, but he was accurate when he felt the same about Hurricane Opal in 1995. I just hoped against hope that he would be wrong this time. Guess not.

In the past few weeks, the media coverage for dome homes has exploded! Our website has exceeded 6.1 million hits, with several hundred visitors each day. During Hurricane Frances, Good Morning America interviewed Mr. Paul in his dome "Eye of the Storm" and Safe Harbor Dome in south Florida was interviewed by Canadian radio.

In the last few days, Dome of a Home has made an appearance on the Travel Channel; Discovery Channel Canada; Good Morning America; NBC's Nightly News; NBC's Today Show; Pensacola News Journal; and the Marin Independent Journal. We have heard through the grapevine that the home has been mentioned on various radio stations and other newspapers, but I have not confirmed those yet.



Since receiving the coverage listed above, the Dome of a Home has also been mentioned on Scarborough Country; Countdown with Keith Olbermann (twice); filmed for a National Geographic feature next month; and more newspapers than I can keep up with.


I need help collecting all of the coverage of the Dome of a Home. I, quite literally, am overwhelmed and could use your eyes and ears to alert me to the coverage so we may include it on our site. Thanks in advance for your help. Email it to me at domeofahome@aol.com

The NBC news crew decided to weather out the storm at the Dome of a Home. They have placed cameras outside to document the arrival of Hurricane Ivan, the Terrible.
Mark and I will be documenting his experience with written reports as NBC makes a visual history of the Dome of a Home's survival capabilities.
Stay tuned via the forum because I cannot post the progress reports via the webmaster until the storm is over and power is restored.

7:00 pm

Spoke to Mark by phone, the power is still on, the wind is definitely picking up, and water is crossing the street and already flooding our yard. The dome is still silent, the wind is not howling yet. No shaking of the structure or anything noticeable within the dome.
Stay tuned.

11:00 pm

Mark and the MSNBC reporter just completed a fairly extensive report from the Dome. Winds are gusting at 65 mph, and steadily increasing. The water is across the street and the island is flooded. No structural damage has occurred. The home is sturdy, not shaking or causing any alarm. All of the people staying in the dome feel very confident of their safety and the structural integrity of the dome.

We were thrilled that Mark was able to discuss the need for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and conventional financing to be available for these homes. Like the reporter stated, the same insanity keeps happening over and over again: home destroyed; file insurance claim; receive money; build same type home; home destroyed; file insurance claim over and over and over again.

Mark wanted to express that conventional financing should be available for structures that make sense, even if they defy the conventional models. We are grateful that MSNBC is willing to stay in the dome for this experiment. So far, so good.

Although we are extremely distressed about suffering yet another hurricane, the silver lining is the opportunity to educate the masses about structures that are viable in this environment.
Stay tuned on MSNBC tonight. Tomorrow morning on NBC's TODAY Show from 7 - 10 am, there should be more coverage.



Scarborough Country

Ron Reagan was reporting from Pensacola and stated that he had heard Mark had built two previous storm proof homes that failed.

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

I love it when they report on hearsay instead of facts. He should call Mark before making such statements. Hey, Ron, the number is 850-723-3774.

We suffered severe damage from 2 previous hurricanes in our original home that was bulldozed to build the dome. I guess the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. We will know much more in the morning.


Thursday, September 16, 2004

12:15am

Just saw Kerry Sanders from MSNBC broadcasting from the dome. Gusts of 65 mph, lots of rain. But, the house is definitely still standing and doing fine.

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. 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 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. He said 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. He said it is unnerving to realize that there is no land around until you reach Gulf Breeze.


Mark went to sleep after this discussion, said he slept very soundly. Amazing, I have heard people jokingly refer to others as "sleeping through a tornado", now I know it is possible with Mark and the MSNBC crew.


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. 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 floor have basically vanished. The surge has subsided on the Gulf side, but the Sound side of the island is still under waist deep water.


Mark and I are currently composing his account of Hurricane Ivan from preparation, to meeting the MSNBC crew, the decision to stay, frantic phone calls advising them to run, the event, and the aftermath. Stay tuned! We are contending with sporadic power and limited internet services. But, rest assured we will get this story out.

Due to the recent destruction from Hurricane Ivan, we will be unable to participate in the 2004 Annual Dome Tour. Only residents, contractors, and insurance adjusters are allowed on the island for the next couple of months. Our regrets to have to cancel, but it is definitely out of our hands. Next year, we will have a wealth of information to share at the tour.

Tour for Charity - Saturday, October 16, 2004 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

This year's theme for the annual Monolithic Dome Tour is "Charity begins at 'dome'". We built the Dome of a Home as a direct result of hurricane strikes, so in great empathy we are requesting a gift offering for the victims of Hurricane Charley.

With the recent destruction caused by Hurricane Charley, the monolithic dome may garner even more interest as storm resistant buildings. As we are personally aware, you have two choices when your life has been thrown into chaos by a natural disaster. You can let it become the defining moment of your downfall into depression or you can salvage positive learning experiences from the wreckage. The Dome of a Home was our attempt to incorporate many of the ideas and lessons that became apparent as our community rebuilt from Hurricanes Erin and Opal in 1995.

We encourage you to participate in the guided tours at the Dome of a Home on Saturday, October 16, 2004 from 11 am to 5 pm. We will be highlighting many of the features we included in the home as a direct result of our hurricane experiences. The home is a year old now and we will also be discussing which innovative ideas worked seamlessly and which ones are better left as theories.

Please join us for a tour and help the hurricane victims whose lives have been devastated.

Other homes are participating in the annual tour on October 9, 2004. For information about these homes, please visit www.monolithicdome.com

Recently the Discovery Channel Canada interview Mark Sigler, Dome of a Home owner. You can view a video of the interview on the Discovery channel website.

Visit the Discovery Channel Canada website


One night this May 2006, Mark and I were sitting on the couch watching Discovery Channel's
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HURRICANES. All of a sudden, Mark is on the screen being interviewed. I guess they bought the footage from someone because we had no clue that the Dome of a Home was included in the segment. Wonderful surprise!