Page 21 - Green Builder Magazine Jan-Feb 2018 Issue

A New Reality

We know how and where

buildings fail in hurricanes.

Now it’s time to prepare

for the worst.

BY MATT POWER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

FTER HURRICANE KATRINA IN 2005,
I visited New Orleans several times to explore
and write about what survived—and what
didn’t. I also visited the site of the La Plata,
Md., F4 tornado back in 2002, and wrote about
what happened there—whole houses swept off
A their foundations, exploding roofs, chimney
failures. Back then, those seemed like freak storms. Now, they
feel like early warnings of what was to come.
We have entered a new age of weather the aftermath of major hurricanes. Sifting
extremes, at least part of it human induced. through them, it becomes apparent that
That’s simply a scientific fact. This year’s many aspects of modern homes and multi-
double whammy of Hurricane Harvey and family units could be further amended and
Hurricane Irma was supercharged by higher- fortified at a reasonable cost, particularly
than-normal ocean temperatures. And those in the new construction phase.
temperatures continue to rise each year. A key takeaway is that both materials and
Given this situation, how are our Southern process matter. If buildings are designed and
friends and families to cope? Will South assembled with extreme weather vulnerabil-
Florida, Houston, Puerto Rico, the Virgin ities in mind, they inevitably perform better
Islands and other points south simply be- when the crisis strikes.
come unlivable? For builders, architects and building de-
Let’s hope not. But we need to take the signers, there’s actually some good news
threat seriously. Builders now have the buried in the post-mortem reports from
knowledge AND the products to design FEMA: Many of the worst failures could
and build more-resilient housing. Also, have been prevented simply by strictly ad-
TEMPEST ley, FEMA found that not one home built the building process that were severely dam-
new coastal building codes have proven
hering to the building code.
They identified numerous “weak points” in
remarkably effective. After Hurricane Char-
aged by Charley. I would concur, based on per-
to the 2001 Florida Building Code failed
structurally.
sonal observation of dozens of ruined homes.
FEMA also has done some first-rate re-
To keep this simple and digestible, I’ve pulled
search over the past decade. They have
out nine of the most problematic building
science flaws and offered solutions.
published several post-mortem reports on January/February 2018 GREEN BUILDER 19

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