Tampa, Florida – February 12, 2005. Over 350 building and construction officials and representatives from the insurance and academic communities met in Tampa February 11-12 to share and discuss "observations, lessons learned and unmet research needs" that emerged out of the 2004 hurricanes that struck Florida and the Gulf Coast.

The Symposium was sponsored by FEMA, State of Florida Department of Community Affairs, Building Officials Association of Florida, Institute for Business and Home Safety, International Code Council, Structural Engineering Institute, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, International Code Council Foundation, National Institute of Building Sciences, and National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards.

The two-day program included a review of wind, storm surge/flood and wind-driven rain damage (including mold) to all types of structures – manufactured homes to storm shelters to high-rise residences and hospitals.

Some observations discussed at the symposium were:

• In three of the four 2004 hurricanes (Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) most homes experienced wind speeds within the provisions of the current Florida Building Code.
• In Charlie, 63% of the homes experienced winds ABOVE the provisions of the Florida Building Code and model codes (as provided through the provisions of ASCE-7).
• Charlie (150 mph winds) knocked out many of the wind speed measuring devices.
• Unless effectively secured, rooftop equipment (air conditioners, etc.) was vulnerable to damage and being blown off, especially in coastal areas where metal connectors were corroded.
• Debris damage in Ivan was terrible – taking out homes far inland in 18-19 foot storm surge up some bays, estuaries.
• On the barrier islands, slab-on-grade construction was devastated.
• Mold damage came from variety of causes connected with rain penetrating the building envelope through poorly caulked windows, poor flashing, sofits, damaged roofs, broken windows and was exacerbated by the lack of power and inability to mitigate water damage quickly.

Some lessons learned were:

• Homes built to Florida’s new statewide building code performed well.
• Older homes near the ocean performed less well than expected and that was often due to the fact that in many cases metal connectors in homes had corroded and either were non-existent or broke easily under forces of wind and water.
• Florida’s new manufactured home tie-down requirements worked well.
• There were major problems with inadequately secured ancillary buildings (storage sheds, awnings, etc.) that were turned into flying debris – causing damage to neighboring residences.
• Hurricane shelters in Florida performed well (one exception being investigated).
• Most people affixing temporary FEMA tarps to their roofs did so in ways that either further compromised the integrity of the roof or the tarps were easily blown away in second (or third) hurricane.
• Flat roofs in some parts of the state had edge problems.
• Poorly installed tile roofs had problems on ridgelines.
• Building departments during the recovery period need help with obtaining more inspectors and need guidance as to how many roof inspections (per inspector) it is realistic to expect a department to perform in a day.
• Additional studies need to be made of damage, construction types, and certain types of construction materials and systems. Those studies may end up with recommendations being made to ICC and Florida Building Codes.

In addition to the above discussions, three International Code Council committees met during the program and stayed in Tampa to hold work sessions on February 13. The three ICC Committees are Consensus Committee on Hurricane Resistant Construction, National Storm Shelter Association Consensus Committee on Storm Shelters, and Disaster Response Committee.

NCSBCS was represented Board member, Ila Jones, Program Administrator, Florida Department of Community Affairs, and NCSBCS Executive Director Robert Wible. Mr. Wible made a presentation on "Enhancing the Ability to Prepare for, Respond to, and Recover from Disaster by Streamlining the Building Regulatory Process and Using Information Technology." The presentation described Department of Homeland Security’s National Response Plan and National Incident Management System. It provided information on the progress being made by NCSBCS and the Alliance for Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age to develop materials to support state and local government acquisition and use of information technology to help make building code administration and enforcement programs more effective and efficient in responding to natural and manmade disasters.

During the symposium, NCSBCS released the NCSBCS/Alliance survey to state and local jurisdictions on costs and benefits being derived from the use of information technology in one or more code administration and enforcement process. The survey is being shared electronically with members of the Florida Building Officials Association. The survey was issued from Herndon, VA, on Friday, February 11, with a requested return date of February 28, 2005.