We haven’t reached any dome owners in the area hit by Hurricane Michael. The city manager of Panama City Beach, Florida, was on NPR this morning talking about the damage. He said his city fared okay, but the area around Mexico Beach — east of Panama City Beach — was devastated. Widespread power failures, destroyed cell towers, and damaged infrastructure is making communication difficult.

Years ago, a late night fire started next to a 10,000-ton urea storage in Channelview, Texas. It consumed three wood structures built against the Monolithic Dome. Over 300 gallons of transformer oil fueled the blaze. For an hour, strong winds blew the inferno directly over the dome.

There are so many domes around the Monolithic Dome Research Park that for the first time the Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop was held out-of-town — mostly. Over 20 students attended the Fall 2018 workshop. They built two, 20-foot diameter domes and one concrete-only Ecoshell in nearby Dawson, Texas.

Dome fan, Harry Maldonado, shared this video of his recent visit to a monolithic dome home in Colorado. We believe this home was constructed by Mert Hull near Colorado Springs.

A fertilizer blend plant in Winnsboro, Texas burned to the ground last week. The chemicals in the smoke prompted a half-mile evacuation of businesses and homes. Fortunately, no one was injured. The fire burned itself out overnight.

The Arcadia Monolithic Dome home located in Providence, Utah will be holding an open house on October 20, 2018. This dome home was built in 2016 and was the first of its kind in the area. Located at 115 Canyon Road, Providence, Utah, the home will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. MST. The home is located on an elevated corner, offering views of the surrounding valley, and can be seen from the highway.

Crews recently completed a Monolithic Dome shell in Louisville, Mississippi for a FEMA rated safe shelter. The shelter is part of a larger state initiative to protect communities from tornadoes like the deadly outbreak in April 2014 that claimed 10 lives in Louisville alone.

It’s only one month to the Annual Monolithic Dome Research Park tour in Italy, Texas. This FREE tour is open to the public on October 20, 2018 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The famous Texas landmark, Bruco: The Texas Italian Caterpillar, will be shown along with various Monolithic Domes and Ecoshells plus several nearby Monolithic Dome homes.

A reporter once asked George Paul, why did he build The Eye of the Storm round? George said he wanted it streamlined like a car. The reporter then said, “But this is a house, not a car.” George gave a simple response, “Yes. But every few years, all homes along the coast have an opportunity to go 100 miles per hour.”

A fire alarm had been beeping for several hours in a small, Io-20 rental unit in Italy, Texas. The neighbors called the management company to investigate. The manager called the fire department and met them there. They opened the door. Smoke came pouring out.