If you live in an area prone to natural disasters, you have a few options:

1. Build a robust house that is engineered to withstand the expected disasters. This has a high up front cost.

2. Build a cheap fragile house and hope to socialize the replacement cost with insurance coverage. This works until the danger becomes so high that it's not financially prudent for insurance providers to offer coverage.

3. Build a cheap fragile house, pay cash, and have enough liquid assets in reserve to pay for a replacement if it's destroyed.