I'm not disagreeing with you but just curious. How do you wind proof a house on stilts?. I would think it would be at a higher risk of wind damage.
Multiple issues here. First, the greatest danger to any house from wind is roof failure from lifting off of the house. After that, the rest of the house collapses pretty easily. Hurrican clips tie the roof down and help prevent failure there.
Second, a house on stilts would generate some kind of lift from air passing over the roof and under the house, just like a wing. This is probably the greatest danger from wind. Best way to fix that is to disrupt laminar flow over the house. Chimneys and other protrusions can take care of that on the roof, and lattice across the legs can help underneath.
By far, though, the greatest danger to any structure that is not a mobile home is still from flooding, and not wind.
...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express
175mph enghineering has to do mainly with the amount and size of the rebar in the poured concrete. Roof tie downs beefed up for 175mph uplift.
175 engineereing is becoming pretty well standard here in the lower keys.
For instance the columns that hol the house up on stilts have 8 # 7 reinforcing rods in them. A number 7 rebar is 7/8 of an inch in diameter.
I rode out hurricane Georges here in 1998, sustained winds of 110 or so and gusts to 145. it blew hurricane force for 20 hours. Concrete is a flexible material and will give in the wind. During Georges I could feel the house swaying and the water in the toilets was sloshing around....It was an interesting experience.