How new homes can stand up to disasters

Source(s): Ecocity Builders

Wind

A few basic structural upgrades account for the improved performance: A continuous load path to resist wind uplift; strong lateral bracing (or engineered shear walls) to resist the sideways pressure of wind; hardened or protected windows and doors to resist penetration by windborne debris; and improved water-tight and water-shedding details to resist rain penetration in storms.

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Flood

One smart move, obviously, would be to build the house someplace where there won’t be a flood. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. FEMA provides flood plain maps that define the boundaries of what’s called the “100-year flood plain.” The term is a little misleading: a house in a 100-year flood plain might easily flood more than once every 100 years. More accurately, the flood plain is defined as the location where the risk of flood in any given year is at least 1%.

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Country and region United States of America
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