Hurricanes Cause Floods

Image via NJ.com

Hurricanes cause as much damage from flooding as it does from high winds. In the last Hurricane Irene, some of the people escaping the wind damage were hit by devastating flooding. Hurricane season isn't over, do you have flood insurance? If not, you need to call your insurance agent as soon as you can! No matter if you think you are not in a flood prone area, flooding can get you!

Go to this website, Flood Smart - The official site of NFIP, and learn all about it.

Related articles

• 6 insurance tips to prepare for Hurricane Irene (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Hurricane Irene: Insurance nightmare awaits homeowners (money.cnn.com)
• Hurricane-related flood damage? Few homes covered (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Hurricane Irene: Are You Covered? (online.wsj.com)

Floods Really Cost Taxpayers!

The recent flooding along the Mississippi River (again) has brought more misery and property damage of enormous proportions. I'm sorry, but it seems to me if people are required to build their homes and businesses ABOVE the Flood Elevations, we would have a lot less damage. I'm not suggesting we don't build in flood-prone areas, but we make it a requirement to raise construction higher. I have been designing homes along the Atlantic coast for several years and everything is designed to be built above the Federal Flood Elevations. Either our predictions of "Flood Elevations" are too low, or we have a different set of guidelines for people in the floodplains along the Mississippi. For instance, the damage from Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans could have been a lot less if people were REQUIRED to build above the flood levels! Knowing what I do, I would never build a house below the water level elevation of the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, in a time we really don't need more regulations, I suggest we consider adding a requirement (that) we build our structures above flood levels. I also think we need to revise our flood level elevations up to a more reasonable height, based on more recent floods. (click on the title to see ABC news report)

Wall Sheathing For Wind Resistance!

For wall sheathing that has the best wind resistance, use WINDSTORM by Norbord. It can meet Hurricane Code and is used in Florida's 140MPH Codes! Watch this video and learn more. This stuff is great! Meet Code The Better Way - Also Save Up To $1,000 Or More Per House. See more at "http://www.windstormosb.com/"

The Do and Don'ts of Building in Hurricane-Prone Areas

"The Do and Don'ts of Building in Hurricane-Prone Areas" by NJIT (New Jersey's Science & Technology University) architecture professor Rima Taher, PhD. This is a version of an original press release dated June 15, 2009, but the message is worth repeating.

Taher has written extensively about best building design and construction practices to reduce wind pressures on building surfaces and to resist high winds and hurricanes in residential or commercial construction.

She is a civil/structural engineer who teaches at NJIT’s College of Architecture and Design. Her courses include topics related to wind and earthquakes with guidelines and recommendations for better design and construction in hurricane and earthquake prone areas.

Her recommendations in the forthcoming article should be heeded by anyone building in high wind regions. They include the following.

Design buildings with square, hexagonal or even octagonal floor plans with roofs of multiple slopes such as a four-sloped hip roof. These roofs perform better under wind forces than the gable roofs with two slopes. Gable roofs are common only because they are cheaper to build. Research and testing demonstrate that a 30-degree roof slope will have the best results.

Wind forces on a roof tend to uplift it. “This explains why roofs blow off during extreme wind events,” Taher said. To combat uplift, she advises connecting roofs to walls strongly with nails, not staples. Stapled roofs were banned in Florida after Hurricane Andrew. The use of hurricane clips is recommended. The choice of roofing is important. Different roofing systems perform differently under hurricane conditions. In tile roofs, loose tiles often become wind-borne debris threatening other structures.

Aim for strong connections between the structure and foundation. Structural failure—one structural element triggering the collapse of another—can be progressive.

Hurricane shutters can protect glazing from wind-borne debris. Various designs are available.

Roof overhangs are subject to wind uplift forces which could trigger a roof failure. In the design of the hurricane-resistant home, the length of these overhangs should be limited to about 20 inches.

The design of the researched cyclonic home includes simple systems to reduce the local wind stresses at the roof’s lower edges such as a notched frieze or a horizontal grid. Install the latter at the level of the gutters along the homes’ perimeter.

An elevated structure on an open foundation reduces the risk of damage from flooding and storm-driven water. All foundation piles must be strengthened by bracing and should penetrate deep enough into the soil to reduce the risk of scour."

For Video of Rima Taher, PhD, discussing her findings, go to "http://www.njit.edu/news/2009/2009-224.php"

Plywood Hurricane Shutters!

Image by mira d'oubliette via Flickr

From the American Plywood Association - APA, I found three new publications that can help you protect your windows in a Hurricane!

"It is the height of hurricane season, and APA (American Plywood Association) has three different publication series offering hurricane shutter design details. Each offers a collection of five hurricane shutter designs with recommendations for a variety of window and door openings in masonry and wood-frame buildings. The plans in the series include illustrations, materials lists, and step-by-step instructions.

This month we (APA) feature the newly published Hurricane Shutter Design Considerations for Florida. This region-specific publication presents two basic alternatives for hurricane shutters and five different designs to provide options to protect a home from damage in windstorms. The designs are based on requirements from the 2007 Florida Building Code. This publication is available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form T460, 19 pages.

Hurricane Shutter Designs, Form T450, is the original shutter design publication and includes recommendations based on the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC) and the 2006 International Building Code (IBC). This publication is available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form T450, 18 pages.

The details are also available as Hurricane Shutter Designs for Latin America in Spanish. The designs have been separated into five different publications."

These PDF's are available FREE, all you have to do is sign up on the APA site.

For additional information about Hurricanes, see my previous blog posts "Let's Talk about Hurricanes!" and "Hurricane Roofs" - They're still good!

Let's talk about HURRICANES!

1. To go to the latest maps on Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, go to the National Hurricane Center website.

2. One of the best sources of information on how to build homes in coastal areas is found in the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) FEMA 55, Edition3/August 2005 "Coastal Construction Manual" Principles and Practices of Planning, Siting, Designing, Construction, and Maintaining Buildings in Coastal Areas. Get it here. It's free and it's a wealth of information on how to build and prepare for flooding, hurricanes and storm protection.

3. To find local FEMA Flood Maps for your area, go to their web page and look under "Latest Available Flood Maps. You can view some maps online or purchase printed maps from FEMA.

4. A wealth of additional information concerning all types of Disasters can be found at the FEMA website. This site has an enormous amount of information and links that will keep you busy educating yourself.