How would you teach high school students about typhoon engineering?

A couple of high school students are pursuing a project that aim to "find a solution of house structural problems during natural disasters, especially typhoons, in the Asia-Pacific region, by narrowing our focus to one of the elements of the house, i.e. roof, walls, or posts," and they asked the following questions.

I should first mention that I am speaking based on my personal experiences and knowledge only; I am not speaking for any organisation. Also, these are based on experiences in the Philippines, which is probably the most typhoon-prone country in this region. But at the same time, consider that the Philippines is economically faring better than a few other countries in the same region.

An engineer's dilemma. Any thoughts?

A contact on Facebook posts photos of his "dream home," located in earthquake-prone Philippines. Problem is, it's all concrete hollow block (CHB / CMU / concrete masonry unit) walls. Filled and reinforced, I'm sure. But, no reinforced concrete columns? Based on what I know, this kind of construction is not safe at all, specially in earthquake-prone countries. Or even if it had (and it didn't) have reinforced concrete columns, they still require proper seismic design. These all-masonry wall systems are just bound to collapse when the next big one happens. What do I do? Do I become the bearer of bad news? Do I give unsolicited advice? The problem also is that who knows when the next big one will happen, right? If nothing big occurs during our lifetime, then, well it would seem I am wrong, after all, no? What to do, what to do.

Please share your thoughts in the comments.

"Typhoon Engineering" in the Philippines

Here's a video of a presentation I made 2 years ago at a workshop on "Wind-Related Disaster Risk Reduction" in the Asia-Pacific region.