Disaster Safety Blog

Record rains and tornadoes pound Arkansas

Some Arkansas residents are struggling to keep damaging water from seeping into homes, while others are still cleaning up from damage after four tornadoes.

Central Arkansas is on track to set a new record for annual rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. With only two months remaining in 2009, the area is only 8 inches shy of a 1882 rainfall record of 75.54 inches.

Already 68.26 inches of rain has fallen this year at the Little Rock Airport. October was officially the wettest October on record at the Little Rock Airport, according to the Weather Service. The 16.56 inches that fell in the month was more than an inch above the old record of 15.35 inches, set in October 1984.

While many residents are dealing with soggy conditions, others are cleaning up from four tornadoes that touched down Thursday. The weather service said one of the twisters packed winds of 135 mph. 

Damage surveys by the Weather Service showed one twister touched down south of Louann in Ouachita County and was on the ground for 19.5 miles to a point north-northeast of East Camden. It had winds of up to 110 mph and inflicted damage on several buildings on the South Arkansas Tech campus, the agency said.

A second tornado, somewhat more powerful, touched down northeast of Camden and traveled 10.9 miles on the ground. With winds of up to 135 mph, it caused "extensive structural damage" at the Arkansas Fire Training Academy before lifting off the ground north-northeast of Bearden, the Weather Service said.

Another tornado was on the ground for 5.05 miles, from southwest of Ramsey in Dallas County to northeast of Ramsey. That twister had winds up to 110 mph, and damage was limited to uprooted trees, roof damage and downed power lines.

A fourth tornado was on the ground for 25.75 miles, the Weather Service said, from southwest of the community of Amy in Ouachita County to west-northwest of Princeton in Dallas County. The tornado downed thousands of trees, tore off part of a mobile home's roof, shifted another mobile home off its foundation and destroyed a shop building.

The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is ready to help you minimize to your property. Learn more at DisasterSafety.org.

Storm threatens homes in Southern California

Wildfires have stripped bare landscapes in parts of Southern California, leaving homes and businesses exposed to torrential flooding from a storm system that is expected to pound the region later today.

It was a busy night for residents in the burn areas of the Station Fire as they prepare for the big storm, according to KABC-TV. While some residents are grabbing all the sandbags they can fill, others are packing up and getting out before the heavy rains hit.

The U.S. Geological Survey says there's an 80 percent chance of debris flows during the winter rain season in the areas where hillsides were damaged by wildfires. Some flows could contain up to 100,000 cubic yards of debris. Voluntary evacuations are in effect in Big Tujunga Canyon. 
 
Concrete K-rails and sandbags are in place in a number of neighborhoods to try to divert any kind of mud flow. Sheriff's deputies went door to door Monday night warning residents about the storm danger.

Mountain village nearly washed away by hurricanes

Anyone who has ever visited Asheville, N.C., knows it's hardly in the middle of hurricane central. The picturesque community along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Great Smoky Mountains is miles from the shores of Eastern Carolina and the Outer Banks, which have had their share of hurricane-related damage. So, the story of Biltmore Village being nearly washed away by Hurricane Frances  and then Hurricane Ivan is worth your attention.

Hurricane Frances dumped 18 inches of rain in the North Fork Reservoir area on Sept. 8, 2004, swelling the headwaters of the Swannanoa River, which flows through Biltmore Village, the Citizen-Times reports. Nine days later, the waters rose again when Hurricane Ivan followed Frances’ destructive path, dumping up to 17 inches over the region.

Asheville itself only received about 4 inches of rain from the storm, but the 18 inches of rainfall miles upriver at the North Fork Reservoir sent all that water downriver overnight and into Biltmore Village. Asheville city officials told the newspaper that new management plans at the North Fork Reservoir to control the release of water into the Swannanoa River will help minimize flooding in Biltmore Forest. Storm water and steep-slope development ordinances also are in place to help control some of the runoff that can increase flood damage downstream.

In addition to the lost economic revenue associated with shuttered businesses, the flooding had more than $255 million in federal and state costs.

Deregulated solar panel installation gets mixed reviews

As more homeowners are interested in green technologies, local governments nationwide are considering relaxing and sometimes eliminating building codes to speed the way. The Arizona Republic takes a look at the debate about whether these decisions could lead to increased property damage.

Since Mesa and Gilbert waived a requirement for building permits, no consensus exists on whether consumers are getting a break on fees or whether they are risking long-term damage to their roofs from the weight of solar systems, or worse, seeing their roof sail off during a microburst, the newspaper reports.

"They're sitting on a ticking time bomb. Something is going to happen," Robert Dumitrache of R&R Engineering in Surprise, told the newspaper, adding that "a structural analysis of a roof is a cheap insurance policy for a homeowner hoping to avoid long-term problems."

But Rick Fowlkes, a Mesa consulting engineer, told the newspaper, "I'm in agreement with Mesa and Gilbert: If it's a single home system it's probably not needed."

Steve Hether, Mesa's director of development services, acknowledged in an interview with the newspaper that it's possible the doomsday scenarios could occur but said such events are unlikely.

"There's always a risk, no matter what you do," Hether said. "You might have a roof that is under-designed, but what are the chances of that playing out? For the resources we have, is it something we need to get involved in? We said no."

While Mesa waived the building permit and the $370 fee, Scottsdale still requires the permit and often requests the structural analysis, said Mike Clack, chief development officer.

With such a wide disparity in rules, the Maricopa Association of Governments is hoping to arrive at a standardized approach to protect consumers while avoiding a heavy financial burden, he said.

A structural analysis can cost anywhere from $250 to $1,200, depending on who you ask.

Clack, chairman of MAG's building-standards committee, said he's looking for proof that drilling a screw into a truss to anchor a solar system, which goes against national building codes, won't damage roofs.

Ben Hershey, president of the Structural Building Components Association, said he's offered to perform tests in the association's Madison, Wis., lab, but the solar industry so far has not agreed to pay.

Concerned about the lack of municipal oversight, Mesa and Gilbert are required to sign waivers accepting responsibility before turning on the power.

Property owners and installers vouch in the waiver that the solar systems have been installed properly and meet building codes, Lori Singleton, manager of sustainability initiatives and technology, told the newspaper.

After being contacted by SRP and Arizona Public Service Co., the Arizona Registrar of Contractors is planning to create a new license for solar installers to protect consumers, director Bill Mundell said.

Until that happens, Mundell said he plans to add more questions about solar to the electrical-license test that now covers solar installers.

The debate comes as the solar industry booms. American Solar Electric, one of the Valley's largest installers, projects it will install 700 to 900 residential systems in 2009, spokeswoman Krystal Book said.

Despite the added costs and delays, American Solar Electric does not support deregulation, she said.

"Having a building permit from a city is an additional assurance" for homeowners, she said. With no permit, "it opens the door for unlicensed contractors who don't have the checks and balances we have in place."

Here are some pros and cons in the debate, according to The Arizona Republic:

Pros

•  Mesa stopped requiring the building permits two years ago and has received no complaints.

•  Eliminating the permits saves consumers a $370 review fee, plus the potential cost of a structural analysis by an engineer that could cost up to $1,200. The cost savings might encourage more people to go green.

•  Mesa has not experienced a structural roof collapse in at least a decade.

•  The vast majority of homes already have passed through the building-permit process.

Cons

• Some roofs have not been designed to carry an additional load. There's no way for the average consumer to know the load level without having an engineer perform a structural analysis.

• Any damage from too heavy a load would not show up for years and would likely accumulate over time. Cracks could develop in roofs, and solar panels could act like sails, pulling off roofs during storms.

• Drilling a hole into a truss to anchor a solar system violates nationally accepted building codes.

• Even if a structural analysis costs anywhere from $250 to $1,200, it's a very small percentage of a $30,000 job and amounts to an insurance policy for homeowners.
 

Reinsurer's report puts a price on climate change

A new 147-page report calls for "improved drainage, sea barriers and improved building regulations" among other steps to protect against economic losses associated with climate change.

The report Shaping Climate-Resilient Development was the result of a study by the U.N.-backed Economics of Climate Adaption Working Group, of which IBHS member reinsurer Swiss Re is a member. The study aimed to provide a way to evaluate the cost of climate change and suggest ways to keep the bill down. The study looked at eight areas, both rich and poor, around the world seen as high risk from more droughts, hurricanes, floods and rising sea levels that climate change may cause.

The working group estimated expected economic loss for the eight different case study regions leveraging natural catastrophe risk modeling techniques assuming current GDP growth estimates, under three different climate change scenarios – today’s climate (assuming that there is no additional impact from climate change); moderate climate change (based on the average forecast of climate change for the particular hazard in the location studied); and high climate change (based on the outer range of the climate change considered possible by 2030). The methodology is applicable in any setting where society must consider risk. For example, in Florida the report estimates an annual expected loss of $33 billion from hurricanes – more than 10 percent of GDP - under a high climate change scenario, according to the report.

The group that produced the report is made up of the United Nations, insurer Swiss Re, management consultancy McKinsey, the European Commission, the Rockefeller Foundation, Standard Chartered Bank and environmental network ClimateWorks.

David Bresch, one of the report's authors and head of sustainability and emerging risk management at Swiss Re, said the report aimed to lay out guidelines for decision makers to assess potential effects.

"This is the first study that really thrashes out the adaptation policies and puts a price on them," he said in a news release.

Researchers find link between increased hurricane activity and tornadoes

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) have linked an increase in the size and frequency of Gulf Coast hurricanes with a heightened threat of tornadoes for inland communities, according to a GIT news release.

The research team made up of students and professors from the GIT School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences created a model based on meteorological records from 1995 to present. They found a 35 percent increase in the size of tropical cyclones in the Gulf since 1995, when compared with a previous active period from 1948-1964, which has led to a doubling in the number of tornadoes produced per storm.

The model findings were correlated with actual weather reports from storms such as Hurricane Ike, which struck Sept. 13, 2008, in Texas. The model predicted 33 tornadoes from Ike and 33 tornadoes were recorded. The model predicted 56 tornadoes from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There were 58 tornadoes recorded in relation to that storm.

"The size of a tropical cyclone basically sets the domain over which tornadoes can form," said James Belanger, a doctoral student in the school. "A larger storm that has more exposure over land has a higher propensity for producing tornadoes than a smaller one, on average."

The 2008 tornado season was the worst on record and caused more than $725 million in insured losses, according to A.M. Best Company. Tornadoes and weather events have caused an average of nearly 57 percent of all insured catastrophe losses in the United States since 1953.

New report lists 30 cities at risk from forecast heat waves

A new report to be released today warns the nation is headed for stronger heat waves, but questions remain about what effect those temperatures will have on properties and lives.

The report, "More Extreme Heat Waves: Global Warming's Wake Up Call," is sponsored in part by the National Wildlife Federation. It offers recommendations based on recent findings by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate research across federal agencies.

 

The report lists 30 cities that are most likely to suffer the worst effects of climbing temperatures.

• Boston
• Charlotte
• Dallas
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• New York
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Sacramento
• San Diego
• Austin
• Baltimore
• Buffalo
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Memphis
• Oklahoma City
• St. Louis
• Tulsa
• Washington
• Atlanta
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland
• Las Vegas
• Louisville
• New Orleans
• Pittsburgh
• Raleigh, N.C.
• San Antonio
• Toledo, Ohio

While the report focuses on the health effects of heat waves, other researchers who study the issues surrounding a warming climate have pointed to the potential for larger and more destructive wildfires. Drought conditions in the Southeast and Midwest also have been linked to foundation failures in some homes, as the ground pulls away due to extended periods without rainfall.

Find out what a changing climate and green building trends mean for insurers at Going Green and Building Strong, the IBHS Annual Conference on Property Loss Reduction. Register today.

Neighboring properties could put your home at risk of damage, builders say

Licensed builders in Louisiana are sounding the alarm about "self-builders" and warning homeowners of the potential for shoddy construction damaging neighboring properties in a hurricane.

"If a piece of someone else’s home lands in your yard in the next big hurricane, it may be the result of a “self-builder,” a homeowner who oversaw the construction or repair of their house rather than work with a licensed contractor," New Orleans City Business reports. 

Industry members told the newspaper that they are worried homeowners with limited resources are cutting corners by hiring unlicensed contractors who fail to abide by the state’s stricter building codes pertaining to hurricane-resistant construction.

One of the riskiest shortcuts is not using the appropriate fasteners, clips, straps and nails that connect walls to rafters and foundations, the newspaper reports. 

A building-performance study the Federal Emergency Management Agency released in April examined damage inflicted by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav to houses with inadequate fasteners. In one instance, a Grand Isle home lost its roof to 50 mph winds during Ike, the newspaper reports. A Golden Meadow home floated away because of inadequate house-to-foundation connections.

Toni Wendel, president of Olde World Builders and Remodelers, told City Business, "those homes were likely built before the International Residential Code 2006 was made standard in Louisiana last year," adding that "the code has not cured problems with self-builders."

Under IRC 2006, homebuilders in coastal Louisiana must use approved architectural plans to keep a house intact in winds of 130 mph to 140 mph, depending on the location. Architects have some latitude in the ties or that they can use to hold a house together.

At Louisiana State University’s AgCenter, housing specialist Claudette Reichel told the newpaper that problems with self-builders skirting rules soon become apparent in hurricanes.

“Of course, if there’s a big wind event, you’ll see the failure points and the telltale signs in the homes that they built like roof damage, loss of lots of shingles, garage door collapses and gable-end wall failures,” Reichel said in an interview with City Business.

Research by the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has found it is possible to build homes and businesses that can stand up to hurricane forces, but it begins by tying the structure together. Learn more about the proper way to reroof in a hurricane-prone area; find out how to brace a garage door against hurricane winds and get valuable insight into choosing the right window protection.

Stronger homes, building code enforcement must be a priority, Insurance Commissioner says

Incentives to build stronger homes -- not state subsidies -- are the key to lowering insurance rates in high-risk, coastal areas, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney told a panel of Alabama lawmakers Tuesday, according to the Press-Register.

Chaney also emphasized the importance of enforcing building codes, limiting the number of people using the state's insurer of last resort and requiring policyholders statewide to help pay for catastrophic hurricane damage.

"This is not a simple issue," Chaney said. "It's an issue that you've got to address with great caution."

Chaney spoke during the second in a series of Insurance Regulations Subcommittee meetings, from which Alabama lawmakers hope to craft changes to state insurance law.

Legislators from Mobile and Baldwin counties have been attempting to bring better coverage and lower insurance rates to coastal homeowners since Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004, the newspaper reports.

A proposal, sponsored by Sen. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, passed by the Alabama Legislature during its last session and could help eventually bring rates down, Chaney said. That measure will require insurance companies to discount premiums for homeowners who build or retrofit their homes to withstand strong hurricanes, including to the Institute for Business & Home Safety's Fortified...for safer living® standards.

Mississippi has required that insurance companies offer a 30 percent discount for weatherproofed homes. No exact discount amount has been set in the Alabama law, which goes into effect in May, but Brooks said he hopes the rebate for Alabamians will be near Mississippi's 30 percent.

Hurricane-like conditions soak New York State

 
Residents in Western New York faced hurricane-like conditions on Sunday and more may be on the way.

Two rounds of thunderstorms soaked an already-saturated region with the volume of rainfall more often associated with a hurricane or tropical storm, the National Weather Service reports. The worst flooding appeared to be along Cattaraugus Creek in Gowanda, where cars were swept away and homes suffered structural damage.

"We had a 5-foot wall of water in less than five minutes probably," National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Niziol told reporters. "I would call that almost unprecedented. That is the type of rainfall that would be associated with a hurricane or a tropical storm [in the Southeast]. It is very rare for this part of the world."

Niziol pointed out that gauges in Cattaraugus Creek in the Gowanda area read 6.36 feet at 11:30 p.m. Sunday and rose to 11.45 feet at the next reading five minutes later.

More thunderstorms are forecast for tonight. Get prepared for rising waters.



The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) recommends:

• Moving appliances and furniture to higher ground, if possible;
• Rolling up area rugs and carpets;
• Testing your sump pump for proper operation:
  • To inspect the sump pump:    
    • Open the lid and remove debris that may be blocking the water inlet screen.    
    • Pour approximately five gallons of water into the pump and watch the float valve rise.
    • As the float valve rises, the pump should turn on and the water should discharge through the outlet pipe.
    • Go outside and inspect the outlet pipe. Wa-ter should be flowing from the pipe and away from the home.  
    • If the sump pump fails to operate during this inspection, contact a plumbing professional.