Catastrophic Storms

Lessons from Devastating Storms

The “hold your breath strategy”: hoping that the next weather disaster will not impact your home has been exposed with intense storms happening in many new locations across the United States. Clearly Ian, tearing up the west coast of Florida is not surprising, but the great majority of homeowners were poorly prepared for the result.

Here are a few observations for the future

Wave surge

It is estimated that more than 300,000 cars were totaled from the 15-foot wave surge that Ian delivered. In that this level of devastation had never been experienced before in the Fort Myers area, most were unprepared. Auto owners, including those who are Snowbirds, could have moved their cars to a better location to avoid this result. Just a few miles inland, the storm surge did not result in damage, except for the low-lying areas adjacent to inlets. Some of the damage was caused by the surge pushing water upstream with such force it flooded and devastated those surrounding properties

Wind

Coastal properties, within 10 miles of a shoreline are exposed. Wind protection is vital to reducing damage. Any opening should be wind rated to 180mph to avoid a disastrous result. Examples of these are,

• Windows
• Doors/Garage Doors
• Roofing

For new construction or renovations, adding wind protection is an intelligent step. If you are coastal and this is an upgrade or retrofit, it might be sensible to price out adding wind protection to address the increasing intensity of these storms. Preparing for the potential of winds like those that Ian packed at 150 mph are the steps that need to be taken to avoid the devastation.

If you would like more details on storm preparation, drop an email to Kyle at kshepard@shepardinsgrp.com or call 203.698.9342