Shelter from the Storm.(Giant Mercedes Homes)

By Bill Lurz, Senior Editor

If you built houses no hurricane could knock down, and the technology only added $3000 to the price, would they sell?

Florida-based Giant Mercedes Homes is betting the farm that home buyers are willing to invest an extra $3000 to $5000 to live in houses with cast-in-place solid concrete walls -- 6 inches thick -- that withstand hurricane winds of 200 mph.

Keep your eye on how this plays out. Another hurricane season like the last two and we may see half the country living in houses like those profiled in the next seven