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The impact of Hurricane Milton on Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida

Posted on by Kennedy
The impact of Hurricane Milton on Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida

When Hurricane Milton hits Florida, former President Donald Trump won't be at Mar-a-Lago, where the walls that have remained standing after every storm are reinforced.

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As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida's Gulf Coast as a major hurricane, tropical storm-like conditions will occur Wednesday night, Oct. 9, through Thursday in Palm Beach County, home of former President Donald Trump's famous Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach expected .

While Trump and his family won't be in Palm Beach as the storm moves across Florida, they should be able to rest a little easier over the next few days knowing that Mar-a-Lago was the Republican presidential nominee's official residence when he was President, it has been called the “Winter White House” and the “Southern White House” – has weathered major hurricanes since it was built in 1927 by grain heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her then-husband, stockbroker EF Hutton.

On the one hand, the house is literally rock solid: concrete and steel anchor the structure to the coral reef below. Many of the walls are 3 feet thick.

“This place won't move,” the late Tony Senecal, who served as Trump's butler at Mar-a-Lago for years, said in 2005. “That's why you'll always see me here during a hurricane. “If it works, I'll do it with.”

Mar-a-Lago's stucco-covered walls have remained standing after every hurricane, including the massive killer storm that devastated the South Florida coast in 1928. However, the damage at Mar-a-Lago was mostly limited to uprooted trees, Post later said, although the mansion's famous Roman-style window was damaged.

The mansion survived another hurricane in 1947, which flooded the south-facing neighborhood and washed away much of the coastal road.

But the house is not completely impermeable.

In September 2017, a portion of the club's main building suffered roof damage and minor roof leaks as the outer bands of Hurricane Irma swept across Palm Beach. Additionally, several trees were cut down and landscaping along the south wall of the property was thinned. City officials at the time confirmed that they had received no reports of structural damage to Mar-a-Lago or any other building on the island.

The building previously withstood two consecutive hurricanes, Frances and Jeanne, in 2004.

“We lost a lot of the vegetation that gave Mar-a-Lago its character,” Trump told the Palm Beach Post, according to Frances. “I wasn't there during the storm, but my people there told me it reshaped the place. There was also minor flooding in some basements.”

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma surprised locals with its strength as it swept in from the west.

An Associated Press investigation in 2016 found little evidence that Wilma severely damaged Mar-a-Lago, although Trump said in a 2007 court deposition that he was paid $17 million in an insurance claim after the storm be.

Trump purchased the mansion in 1985. A decade later, after pouring millions of dollars into restoration, he opened the Mar-a-Lago Club, retaining living quarters for himself and his family members. Companies linked to Trump also own three houses next to the club grounds.

Hurricane Milton preparations at Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach

When a hurricane threatens, Mar-a-Lago employees prepare for the storm in the same way as other Palm Beach property owners, including removing or securing patio furniture and other items that become wind-borne missiles during a storm could be.

Property owners could also lower swimming pool water levels and place sandbags outside exterior doors, which is particularly important in low-lying areas.

Full generators were a rarity in Palm Beach before the 2004 and 2005 storms, but today they are commonplace. Owners often test their generators because they are prepared for power outages after a storm.

During Trump's restoration project in the 1990s, Mar-a-Lago's original windows were carefully preserved and restored, including a series of ornate gilded windows in the main room, according to Fort Lauderdale-based architect Tamara Peacock of Peacock Architects, who worked on the project.

Unlike other historic buildings that have been restored in Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago still uses old-fashioned metal shutters to protect its old windows, including the large window at the front of the building.

In 2016, Peacock said Mar-a-Lago was better prepared to withstand a storm than many old buildings.

“I’ve seen a lot of historic homes throughout my career,” she said. “It’s the best built.”

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