My house on Fire Island was one of the three houses in that community (Fair Harbor) to survive the 1938 hurricane. That was because the previous owner had built it with battleship linoleum covering the entire platform of the house (no seams) before he put up the walls. The entire house was swept off the pilings and ended up floating in the Great South Bay--just as he had planned it. Simple matter to just lug it back onto the pilings.
He was a ferry boat captain and was keenly in touch with the ways of the island. During the hurricane, he loaded everyone who was stranded onto his ferry. There were so many people on it that it eventually was resting on the bottom, which is more dangerous than if it had been floating. He did not tell anyone that it was grounded. They all survived.