So basically it's the money issue?  A wood house is cheaper to build than a brick house?    Is this the same for all the regions of the U.S. (and I assume Canada is most likely the same)?    About the durability versus price issue:    1) in a twister zone, wouldn't be more practical to just build a reinforced concrete cellar or basement (bunker like) or it still wouldn't matter? would it actually be cheaper to lose everything and rebuild? how often? like every year or so??    2) in a hurricane/flood zone, wouldn't a wood house be ruined by the water more easily than brick/cement? the wood rots...    3) in an Earthquake zone, the same bunker-like method in 1) wouldn't be more cheap than lose and rebuild?    4) termites...? can't termites destroy a wood house?      Sorry if these questions seem like common knowledge or redundant but I've never lived in a wood house, I'm not used to the building method for wood houses, and as you already realized I've never been to a zone with these kind of natural hazards, so I'm clueless about the actual preemptive measures, and only know what little I've been able to grasp about the topic and plain common sense.