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 Tampa - Construction is underway on the first Fortified…for safer living® community in Central Florida. Charlie Johnson Builder, Inc., is building a neighborhood of nearly 60 houses with this disaster-resistant designation in Eustis, between Ocala and Orlando.
Fortified…for safer living® is the new-home construction designation program of the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), a national nonprofit disaster safety organization based in Tampa, FL.
The “Fortified” program specifies criteria that will increase a home’s overall resistance to natural hazards based on its location. In Eustis, those threats are high wind, wildfire and flooding. There are now about 2,500 “Fortified” homes completed, under construction or planned in ten states.
Licensed Building Contractor Kristin Beall of Charlie Johnson Builder, Inc., envisioned “Storm Safe Homes” and partnered with IBHS to make sure her houses earned the Fortified…for safer living® designation. “Everyone deserves a home that will stand up to disasters. As a third-generation licensed contractor, I’m proud to continue my family’s commitment to build high-quality, affordable homes with many of the safety features typically found in more expensive houses today.”
The Fortified…for safer living® neighborhood is called The Oaks at Summer Glen and will include 59 single family homes.
Some of the “Fortified” features include:
- Homes built to withstand 130 mile per hour wind speeds;
- Better connections tying the roof, walls and foundation together;
- All openings (windows and doors) protected from impact, roofing materials that provide resistance to water penetration and high wind; and
- A roof design that reduces the amount of surface area vulnerable to wind.
These homes will also include a reinforced concrete safe room with a six circuit breaker box that is pre-wire for a generator and will service both the safe room and the room in which it is located (such as the master bedroom if the safe room is a master closet), and a one year subscription to The Weather Channel’s NOTIFY® Service, which provides severe weather warnings via cell or home phones.
For more information about the “Storm Safe Homes” project or to speak with Kristin Beall, please contact Mark Gauthier at 978-865-4598 or visit www.homesbyher.com.
To learn more about the Fortified…for safer living® program, click here.
The Institute for Business & Home Safety works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other property losses by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparation practices.
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