Former weatherman and filmmaker George Siegal addresses what indeed could be a considerable elephant-in-the-room oversight in yearly storm disasters, quakes, and brush fires that wreak billions in damages in North America. Too many dwellings are simply not constructed with the intent to endure extreme weather or unstable terrain.
Viewers of bad-weather videos (there are those) will be sated by some of the scary imagery here. Sorry, global-warming skeptics, but the editorial POV is that climate change exists—and if one doesn't believe that, one must acknowledge the undeniable hurricanes, tornadoes, Missouri and Mississippi rivers breaching their banks, and other banes that are not going away.
These disasters have cost thousands of families everything they own (and in the case of Panama City and Mexico City, Florida, virtually flattened the entire towns). Yet, according to Siegal, much tragedy could have been avoided by wiser building techniques.
During Hurricane Michael, in fact, Florida homes that survived the winds and water were actually low-income structures erected by Habitat for Humanity; they simply boasted better workmanship, more nails and fasteners (and roofs wisely angled to the wind direction) than the cut-rate, for-profit houses of the affluent neighborhoods. In Japan and other earthquake zones, a clever foundation allows tall buildings leeway to sway with the rocking earth. Fire-resistant gels and materials could save many homes that fall victim to wildfires (though the documentary is coy on their potential health risks—does anyone remember asbestos?).
Much of this material is reflected in the book Resilience, by on-screen guest Aris Papadopoulis, so much so that the feature occasionally takes on an infomercial tone (or at least an extended TV-news segment). But Last House Standing is an important infomercial nonetheless, making the point that powerful lobbies in the construction industries refuse to let local building codes mandate common-sense advantages. Florida and Gulf of Mexico collections are especially recommended due to the number of times that region rates mention (and Tampa is regarded as one city in the area that Got It Right). A 35-minute abridgment is also available for educational/classroom screenings. (Aud: H, C, P)