Natural Building for Severe Weather

I'm interested in natural building techniques and have been thinking a lot about how they might fit in on my property. One big question I have is which methods would hold up the best/be the safest in severe weather such as high winds and tornadoes? With the climate change we are expecting to see an increase in severe weather and I'd like to be prepared for that.

Does anyone have any personal experiences or information they could share on this subject? Thank you!

Hi Adrienne;
No experience with this, but its well known round "concrete" domes generally fair best in high winds.
Underground housing would be better. Perhaps one of the old missile silos ?

If you are looking at a bunker type setup, a good place to start can be corrugated metal pipe in 10' or 12' diameters. Squash pipe provides a few advantages yet over the round tube, but typically costs more.

If you are not trying to go full subterranean, I believe a WOFATI type structure may suite you.

Earthbag structures are also a possibility, but require some unique considerations.
My Little Homestead did one of their buildings with an basement.


One of the first questions might be if you have any kind of zoning requirements. If you do that could dictate a lot right there. If not I would imagine the sky, or in this case the bedrock, is the limit.

Thank you both for the ideas and information!  Time now to go do some research.