How To Make Your House Hurricane Proof

Wind and water are the most devastating elements of a hurricane, but there are steps you can take to help mitigate hurricane damage.

One good place to start is the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). It has developed “Fortified” standards to guide homeowners in strengthening houses against severe weather like hurricanes and thunderstorms.

What Is the Fortified Home Program?

The IBHS developed standards that go beyond typical building codes to help reduce the costs of severe weather related problems such as high winds, floods and hail. “Fortified” construction typically falls under three different designations:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold

To qualify for silver or gold designations, you’ll need to make improvements that will further strengthen your home against severe weather like strong winds. For example, one of the qualifications for a silver designation is having a roof that has been built or retrofitted to minimize damage for category 2 or weak category 3 hurricane winds. A gold designation roof would be built or retrofitted to minimize damage in hurricane category 3 winds.

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale

Category	Types of damage due to winds
1 – sustained winds 74-95 mph	Very dangerous winds can cause some damage to homes, and extensive damage to power lines and poles could result in lost power for a few to several days.
2 – sustained winds 96-110 mph	Extremely dangerous winds can cause extensive damage to homes. Power loss is expected to last several days to weeks.
3 (major hurricane) – sustained winds 111-129 mph	Devastating damage can cause major damage to homes. Electricity and water may not be available for several days to weeks.
4 (major hurricane) – sustained winds 130-156 mph	Catastrophic damage can cause severe damage to homes. Power outages could last weeks to months.
5 (major hurricane) – sustained winds 157 mph or higher	Catastrophic damage can destroy homes with total roof failure and collapse. The affected area could be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

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You might qualify for home insurance discounts if your house receives an IBHS “Fortified Home” designation. For example, residents in Georgia and Mississippi may qualify for discounts and credits. Ask your homeowners insurance company if you’ll qualify for any discounts.

Insurance might help you upgrade after roof damage. For example, Alabama law requires that homeowners insurance companies offer a fortified bronze roof endorsement that will upgrade a non-fortified roof to a fortified one if the roof needs replacement after damage.

In North Carolina, residents in 18 coastal counties can qualify for insurance incentives if you have a “Fortified” home.

How to Fortify Your Roof

A roof takes a pounding from severe weather, through high winds, driving rain and hail impact. A category 1 hurricane is the lowest rated hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph. That’s nothing to scoff at—it’s enough to damage a roof, shingles and gutters.

A damaged roof can be an entry point for water, which can lead to a whole host of problems. While homeowners insurance usually covers water damage from damaged roofs, you’ll still be responsible for your deductible and the headache that comes along with repairs and sorting through water-damaged belongings. An insurance claim is also likely to result in higher homeowners insurance premiums at renewal time.

“It is absolutely critical to provide top-tier protection for a home’s roof,” said Fred Malik, managing director of the “Fortified” program at IBHS, in a statement. “When a roof fails, we almost always see a cascade of damage, and that can impact the integrity of the entire structure.”

If you take steps to fortify your roof, you’ll not only protect your home, you may also qualify for a homeowners insurance discount. To earn yourself a “Fortified” designation, you’ll need to build or retrofit your roof to minimize:

• Roof damage
• Attic water intrusion
• Property damage
• Disruption and losses in areas affected by category 1 or weak category 2 hurricane winds

You can reduce risk of damage by taking these steps:

• Improve roof sheathing attachment.
• Provide a sealed roof deck.
• Reduce chances of attic-ventilation failure by having roof vents or gable end wall vents.

To qualify for a silver designation, you’ll have to meet the risk reduction requirements above, plus:

• Improve the anchorage of attached structures like porches and carports.
• Protect all openings, such as “glazed openings” (skylights, windows, glass block), entry doors and garage doors.
• Strengthen gable ends.
• Strengthen long vinyl and aluminum soffits.

To qualify for a gold designation, you would have to meet all of the requirements for the bronze and silver requirements, plus:

• Ensure that the exterior walls are constructed using a wall system that provides resistance to wind pressure and debris impact provided by 7/16-inch thick OSB (oriented strand board) wood structural panels attached to wood wall framing.
• Ensure your windows and doors stand up to certain wind pressures and protect from flying debris.
• Provide continuous load path connections between roof support members and bearing walls, between bearing and shear walls above and below intermediate floors of multi-story homes, and between bottom floor bearing and shear walls down to the building’s foundation.
• Secure chimneys to the structure.

How to Fortify Your Windows, Entry Doors and Garage Doors

When wind pressure enters a home through windows and doors, pressure builds up inside the home, like blowing up a balloon. Combined with external pressure outside the home, internal wind pressure can increase the risk of your roof coming apart from the walls and forces trying to push out the walls.

To qualify for silver and gold designations, you’ll need to retrofit or install windows, doors and garage doors that meet IBHS standards. That’s because most windows, entry doors and garage doors have gaps that allow for hurricane-induced external pressures to build up, according to the IBHS. Even windows protected by shutters can fail due to wind pressure.

You can take steps to prevent the pressurization of your house and meet a “design pressure rating” for your windows, entry doors and garage doors. A design pressure rating is a rating assigned to a window or door based on testing and safety standards.

To qualify for a silver designation, it’s sufficient to protect your windows and doors to prevent pressurization. The windows must be able to resist or be protected from windborne debris. The level of debris-impact protection could vary depending on the area you live in.

Your entry doors must be pressure and impact rated, such as impact rated laminated doors.

If you have garage doors, they’ll also need to be protected from wind pressure and debris damage.

• If your garage doors do not have windows the assembly (door, hardware and components) must meet a design wind pressure for your site, or you must protect the garage door with an impact-rated shutter/screen product that meets the design wind pressure for your site.
• If your garage doors have windows the assembly must be rated for the design pressure and impact or the garage door must be protected with an impact-rated shutter/screen product that meets the wind pressure for your site.

To meet a “Fortified” gold designation, your home must meet silver requirements and will need:

• A roof system that stays intact and keeps wind-driven rain out.
• Windows, doors, garage doors and sliders that stay in place and cannot be breached by wind pressure or windborne debris, and keep water and wind out as much as possible.
• Well-anchored attached structures, gable ends and roof overhangs.
• A well-connected structural system where all the parts work to keep the home intact (a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation and all parts in-between).

How To Make Your House Hurricane Proof Frequently Asked Questions