IBHS Newsroom
Richburg, SC, June 11, 2024 — With an active hurricane season forecast for 2024, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) encourages homeowners to act now to reinforce their properties against severe weather. IBHS researchers have identified the roof and garage doors as the areas of homes particularly vulnerable and most important to strengthen to withstand storms. These two home improvements top the nonprofit’s Hurricane Ready guidance, which also includes DIY maintenance projects and tips to complete now and last-minute storm prep.
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Connie Bryant Breedlove
Managing Director, Communications
cbreedlove@ibhs.org
404-786-5275
Mary Anne Byrd
Communications Director
803-669-4216
mbyrd@ibhs.org
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Who is IBHS?
We are at the cutting edge of new science that makes homes and businesses stronger against severe weather, and we are on a mission to educate the building industry, inform the public, and effect change for all. We encourage you to connect with us and share our content.
DisasterSafety.org
The guidance developed through the ongoing research by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) lands on our DisasterSafety.org site. The site provides projects to help home and business owners protect their property from damage caused by natural disasters.
FORTIFIED.org
FORTIFIED is a nationally recognized building method that goes beyond building codes to strengthen residential and commercial buildings against specific natural hazards such as high winds and hurricanes. FORTIFIED standards are based on more than 20 years of scientific research and real-world testing by IBHS.
IBHS Visual Assets
The IBHS Research Center provides a rare glimpse into the devastating effects of natural disasters on homes and businesses when communities are evacuated and news cameras are no longer able to safely enter the area. From dramatic footage of hurricane-force wind and water impacting homes to full-scale homes subjected to ember storms, IBHS has video to help visualize the effects of extreme weather across the built environment. Several examples are below – please contact us for additional resources.
B-Roll
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IBHS Expert Insights
Roy E. Wright
“The goal of climate adaptation is to take actions today to reduce losses tomorrow. Recognizing that we can’t predict specific weather events next month, much less over the next several decades, IBHS knows that putting proven building science solutions in place now will reduce disaster losses in the future. Given its important societal and economic benefits, adaptation is a sound fiscal strategy, public health objective, and humanitarian obligation.”
Anne D. Cope, PhD, P.E.
“We’ve calculated that an unsealed roof deck allows up to 60% of the rain that hits a damaged roof to enter into the attic. A sealed roof deck can reduce water entry by as much as 95%. If all the shingles came off a 2,000-square-foot unsealed roof, up to 750 gallons of water could enter the attic for every inch of rain that falls – equivalent to 9 bathtubs full of water.”
