Like the sibling said, cost is a big factor. Brick and mortar takes a lot more labor than stick built houses. And the US has a lot of timber to build housing w

Like the sibling said, cost is a big factor. Brick and mortar takes a lot more labor than stick built houses. And the US has a lot of timber to build housing with. There are ways to build more resilient wood buildings too, but it requires more expensive materials and/or more labor, so it only happens when it's mandated... most states, including Florida, limit how new building codes apply to existing structures, but I'd expect most buildings in Florida that were built within the last decade to do pretty well with hurricanes. Most of the worst damage is to older homes that weren't updated to meet newer standards; or is in places with so much impact from storms that no reasonable building would survive.