In October 2018, Hurricane Michael flattened Mexico Beach, Florida. Homes were flooded, roofs torn off, debris everywhere. Yet one house, the Sand Palace, stood high on its pilings above the wreckage. Its owners, Lebron Lackey and his uncle Russell King, said that was no accident. Florida code required homes to handle 120 mph winds, but they built for about 240 to 250 mph: poured concrete walls on 40-foot pilings, rebar all through, steel cables running from the girders over the roof. They gave up a balcony, shrank the overhang, and swapped some windows for concrete, even though friends criticized them for it. It cost them 15 to 20 percent more. When Lackey came home and saw his neighbors’ losses, he had tears in his eyes for his community. Jesus told us about two houses and one storm. The storm comes for everybody. The foundation decides what’s left standing.
