All of the buildings at McMurdo are above ground and all of the most recently built buildings are on stilts to allow the wind to blow away the snow drifts. Nothing is built underground. The buildings are all steel and while they will sustain some minor damage such as roof or siding panels coming off. For the most part they are sturdy and can survive most anything thrown at them. During condition one storms, the worst, we are required to stay indoors. Winds of up to 100mph means that there is a lot of debris blowing around. In the last storm the metal roof of an old oil storage tank blew off. It would not have been good to have people walking around.
Tempwise the clothing they give us keep us pretty toasty even at these low temps.
Mike