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As someone who has lived in the pacific north my entire life I have no experience with things like this. Does the southeast build their structures differently k

As someone who has lived in the pacific north my entire life I have no experience with things like this. Does the southeast build their structures differently knowing they are going to get hammered by hurricanes? Japan builds knowing they need to be resistant against earthquakes for example.

gen220 4y ago
It depends on local jurisdiction. In Cape Cod (Massachusetts), for example, any permitted renovations to old structures or construction of new structures requires significant structural updates to comply with a thorough building code meant to help their structures remain inhabitable through and recoverable from storm surge. Locals complain about it because it's expensive, and because the resulting coastal house on concrete stilts isn't aesthetically pleasing. But it's the only rational thing to do in 2022 if you want sustainable coastal development. In Florida, where things are more "laissez faire", things may be bit different.
jdhn 4y ago
Florida has strict building codes for places that are within the wind zone (so basically the bottom half of the peninsula). Miami Dade has even stricter rules. However, this only applies to newer houses. Ft Meyers (the worst hit area0 had lots of houses that were built pre-Andrew, which was the event that drove the increase in building codes.
- matthewdgreen 4y ago
  And lots of prefab homes.
- jeffbee 4y ago
  The building code does not seem to have prevented anyone from building on fill less than 1m above MSSL.
coryfklein 4y ago
I'd also love to hear from an expert, but my understanding is that building codes make some accomodations for a general expectation of flooding (like no basements allowed), but the region has a huge safety net in FEMA and other disaster relief funds, and so for any given house it makes more financial sense to build more cheaply and then use relief funds to rebuild when the disaster actually comes. This likely is making for a good deal of misaligned incentives, where public disaster relief expenses could be much less if building codes were raised in these areas, but such change is likely to be slow in coming and we should expect the status quo to continue for some time.

gen220 4y ago

It depends on local jurisdiction. In Cape Cod (Massachusetts), for example, any permitted renovations to old structures or construction of new structures requires significant structural updates to comply with a thorough building code meant to help their structures remain inhabitable through and recoverable from storm surge. Locals complain about it because it's expensive, and because the resulting coastal house on concrete stilts isn't aesthetically pleasing. But it's the only rational thing to do in 2022 if you want sustainable coastal development. In Florida, where things are more "laissez faire", things may be bit different.

jdhn 4y ago

Florida has strict building codes for places that are within the wind zone (so basically the bottom half of the peninsula). Miami Dade has even stricter rules. However, this only applies to newer houses. Ft Meyers (the worst hit area0 had lots of houses that were built pre-Andrew, which was the event that drove the increase in building codes.

matthewdgreen 4y ago
And lots of prefab homes.
jeffbee 4y ago
The building code does not seem to have prevented anyone from building on fill less than 1m above MSSL.

coryfklein 4y ago

I'd also love to hear from an expert, but my understanding is that building codes make some accomodations for a general expectation of flooding (like no basements allowed), but the region has a huge safety net in FEMA and other disaster relief funds, and so for any given house it makes more financial sense to build more cheaply and then use relief funds to rebuild when the disaster actually comes. This likely is making for a good deal of misaligned incentives, where public disaster relief expenses could be much less if building codes were raised in these areas, but such change is likely to be slow in coming and we should expect the status quo to continue for some time.