LAFAYETTE PARISH — Hurricane hunter Josh Morgerman has chased the planet’s most violent storms. The record-setting storm chaser invited Chief Meteorologist Rob Perillo inside his fortified “Hurricane House 2.0,” a custom-built Gulf Coast residence engineered to withstand the kind of winds that have rewritten American history.
Morgerman, known worldwide as “Hurricane Man,” has intercepted 80+ hurricanes, more than anyone else on record. After years of flying around the globe from Los Angeles, he relocated to Bay St. Louis to live near the storms. “I wanted to live where I hunt,” he said, calling the Mississippi Coast “the middle of the action.”
“If I’m going to build a house here, this thing’s got to be tough.” — Josh Morgerman
The house sits on a raised concrete foundation and relies on what Morgerman calls a continuous load path — a structure where every part of the home, from roof to foundation, is uniformly held together to prevent catastrophic failure by leaving no weakness in the chain of constuction. Morgerman said even a single weak connection can allow hurricane force winds to peel a structure apart.
He paired that engineering with the architectural charm of the Gulf South, installing operable storm shutters, a traditional coastal façade, and a standing seam metal roof rated for wind speeds up to 200 mph, strong enough, he says, to survive a repeat of storms like Camille or Katrina.
“If the roof rips off, it’s game over. If it stays on, you’re going to be okay.” — Josh Morgerman
The home is certified Fortified Gold, a designation awarded to structures that meet resilience standards proven to reduce storm damage. Morgerman says the certification offers both peace of mind and insurance advantages and encourages other Gulf Coast homeowners to explore retrofits like fortified roofs.
Behind his house stands something unique as well to collect crucial data in the event of a hurricane landfall over his home, a Mesonet-grade weather station capable of measuring winds up to 224 mph. Morgerman hopes future storms provide data that will deepen hurricane science rather than destroy his community.
This interview kicks off a two-part series.
Part Two will take viewers inside Morgerman’s most intense hurricane intercepts, exploring the science, strategy, and adrenaline that fuel his storm-chasing career.
