Transcript:
In 2020, Hurricane Sally barreled ashore in Alabama, damaging thousands of homes. But some people’s houses fared better than their neighbors’.
In Alabama, a program funded by insurance companies pays for homeowners in coastal counties to retrofit their homes to what’s called the FORTIFIED Roof™ standard.
Improvements include sealing the roof deck to minimize water intrusion and attaching the roof to the walls with stronger nails.
Powell: “And that keeps the roof boards from being pulled off from the rafters.”
Lars Powell is at the Center for Risk and Insurance Research at the University of Alabama. In a recent study, his team analyzed thousands of claims to see how effective these improvements turned out to be in a real storm situation.
Powell: “Hurricane Sally was really the first time that a large, strong storm hit a critical mass of fortified homes.”
They found that meeting the FORTIFIED Roof™ standard reduced claim frequency by 56%. And for those fortified homes that were damaged, the losses were less costly on average.
It shows that, as climate change brings more extreme storms, investments in strengthening homes can pay off – for homeowners and the insurance industry.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media