Florida leads the pack with wind resistant construction but we only design for 130-150MPH winds. These F-5s get up over 200.
Basically the wind code plan is based on tying the roof to the foundation making a continuous matrix in the walls. In stick built every upright framing member has a steel strap that connects it above and below from the straps coming out of the footers to the straps going over the trusses. These are not those little "twisties" either. They are straps with about 15" of connection to the wood and about 30 nails.
In CBS construction (Concrete Block & Stucco), more common, you have a #5 rebar tied to the footer steel (2 #5s) coming 4' out of the footer every 4 feet on a running wall and in every door or window opening. This gets tied to another #5 that comes down from the top. There are 4 #5s that ring the top 2 courses of block which get poured solid along with all the "dowel" cells you have rebar in. This creates a matrix that makes a very tough building.
You can see the footer and dowel cell steel in my "ufer" pictures.
http://members.aol.com/gfretwell/ufer.jpg They paint the cell with the Ufer in green it so some bozo doesn't pour it solid. That still happens about 5-10% of the time. The AHJ makes them chip it out, down to the steel for the ufer.
