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Wind Policy

Natural hazards can leave an unimaginable path of destruction. Tropical cyclones like Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina are the most damaging, while severe storms with high winds also make up a large share of these costly events. At IBHS, we advance science-informed public policies to help create survivable and insurable homes and communities. 

Why Wind Policy Matters 

Stronger building codes save lives, protect homes, and reduce losses. Yet too many communities remain vulnerable to destructive wind events like hurricanes, tornadoes, derechos, and severe convective storms. 

The Role of Building Codes 

Building codes set minimum standards for how homes and businesses are designed and constructed to withstand high winds. IBHS research after major storms, including Hurricane Ian, confirms that enforced building codes reduce damage and speed recovery. Communities with strong, enforced codes are more resilient, safer, and positioned to bounce back.  

Evidence from Hurricane Ian 

IBHS’s post-storm study in Southwest Florida found that homes built to the modern Florida Building Code (2002-present) may have prevented $1-3 billion in damage to single-family homes alone. 

The Gaps we Face 

Despite these clear benefits, fewer than one-third of U.S. communities have adopted and enforced modern building codes (FEMA). This leaves millions of homes vulnerable to wind damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe convective storms. 

The Path Forward 

As severe wind events grow more frequent and intense, voluntary action is no longer enough. Public policy is essential to ensure modern, science-based building codes are adopted and enforced. State and local governments must lead with smart policies that protect people, property, and the economic stability of entire regions.
 

What Is FORTIFIED? 

Based on decades of IBHS research, the FORTIFIED™ program is a set of voluntary, beyond-code construction methods that improve a building’s resistance to high winds, hail, hurricanes, and even tornadoes.  

The program is available for single-family houses, multifamily properties, and commercial buildings. It includes a technical standard and independent verification process to ensure every FORTIFIED designation means real, measurable resilience by IBHS standards. To date, more than 80,000 structures across 34 states have earned a FORTIFIED designation.

Levels of Resilience 

FORTIFIED offers three increasing levels of protection, allowing property owners to build resilience:   

  • FORTIFIED Roof is the starting point of a FORTIFIED Home because an estimated 70 to 90 percent of catastrophic homeowners’ insurance claims include roof damage, and damaged roofs can weaken structures and also lead to water intrusion that significantly causes more damage. FORTIFIED Roof provides a system that strengthens the roof through (i) stronger nails in an enhanced pattern, (ii) locked-down edges, and (iii) a sealed roof deck, which work in concert to keep the wind and rain out.    
  • FORTIFIED Silver adds increased levels of resilience through requirements for windows, doors, and attached structures like carports and porches or porte-cocheres .   
  • FORTIFIED Gold adds requirements related to a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation.  

 

Hail Supplement 

For added hail protection, homeowners can choose the optional FORTIFIED Hail Supplement. This requires impact-resistant asphalt shingles performance rated Good or Excellent by IBHS using its hail impact test standard, the most realistic natural hail testing protocol for building materials that is currently available. These shingles better protect against hail up to 2 inches in diameter. 

FORTIFIED Grant Programs  
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and states ranging from Alabama to Minnesota have established grant programs to help residents make their homes more resilient to severe weather. 

Why FORTIFIED Grant Programs? 

States have invested millions of dollars in FORTIFIED grant programs because they deliver lasting value:  

  • Increase survivability of homes and communities affordably in severe weather  
  • Support healthy insurance markets by reducing risk (more choices and lower costs) 
  • Grow local workforce knowledge and use of FORTIFIED, resilient construction 
  • Make resilience (adoption of FORTIFIED) affordable for property owners and builders in the state or region beyond initial grant funding. 

Catalyze Private FORTIFIED Growth 

Grant programs not only build safer housing but also grow local expertise.  

  • In Alabama and Louisiana, FORTIFIED grants trained local developers, builders, and contractors.  
  • Once familiar with the standard, many continued to build to FORTIFIED standards even without grants to meet market needs. 
  • In Alabama, 83% of FORTIFIED designations (of over 50,000 designations) came from private investment, builders choosing to construct to the FORTIFIED standard and homeowners deciding on FORTIFIED retrofits, while 17% were grant-driven from the Strengthen Alabama Homes grant program. 
  • Initial public investments in FORTIFIED spark long-term, market-driven resilience, significantly increasing the number of people who live and do business in resilient homes and buildings.  

 

Build and Retrofit Homes Affordably 

 

Resilience is within reach. IBHS offers three levels of protection (Roof, Silver, Gold), allowing owners and developers to balance cost with protection.  

  • Additional costs depend on local building codes. Communities with modern, enforced building codes are already closer to FORTIFIED requirements, so the costs to upgrade are typically lower than in communities without modern codes. 
  • For single family homes, re-roofing to FORTIFIED Roof adds $1,000 – $3,000 plus evaluation costs. 
  • Building new to FORTIFIED Gold adds 0-3% to the hard costs plus evaluation costs.  
  • For multifamily housing, costs can vary significantly due to the variety of building and roof types, but studies show strong ROI.  

*Evaluation costs, which are determined by the third-party companies providing the service, vary based on the designation level, complexity, size of the building or roof and location .  

A 2022 study from the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business found:   

  • Building to FORTIFIED Gold, property owners could realize an 8.1-72% internal rate of return at less than 1.5% of the total cost of construction.  
  • Retrofitting an existing multifamily building to FORTIFIED Roof, a property owner could realize an 8.3-35 % internal rate of return on the investment in the necessary retrofits. 

Increase the Survivability of Homes and Communities

FORTIFIED works. It keeps roofs on, water out, families in homes, businesses open, and communities thriving.  

  • Communities with FORTIFIED homes recover faster after storms. 
  • Families stay housed, workers keep working, and children return to school more quickly.  
  • This stability maintains local tax bases and a sense of community. 

Support Healthy Insurance Markets 

Volatile property insurance markets make it harder for homeowners, property owners, and affordable housing developers to secure affordable coverage.  FORTIFIED reduces that risk: 

  • Homes built with resilient construction like FORTIFIED are less likely to suffer damage and have smaller claims when damage occurs. Studies following Hurricane Sally (in Alabama) and Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Dorian, and Isaias (in North Carolina) concluded that FORTIFIED designated homes are less likely to have an insurance claim and, for those homes with insurance claims, claims are smaller on average. 
  • A 2025 study by the Center for Risk and Insurance Research (CRIR) at the University of Alabama examined over 40,000 properties affected by Hurricane Sally and found: 
  • FORTIFIED homes were 70% less likely to have an insurance claim. and the 
  • Damage severity was 22% lower compared to similar homes. 
  • Verification and IBHS quality control required to achieve a designation added more than 50% performance improvement beyond homes built with similar codes. 
  • As a result, insurers increasingly and voluntarily offer incentives—such as wind premium discounts—for homes with FORTIFIED designations, with some states requiring them by law or regulation. 

Where Are FORTIFIED Grant Programs Offered? 

FORTIFIED grant programs are offered through federal, multistate, state, and private/local entities.  

Federal Programs 

  • 2023 and 2024: the cities of Birmingham, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, used CDBG funds to help low-income homeowners install FORTIFIED roofs.  
  • Since 2020, the Louisiana Housing Corporation has used CDBG-DR funds to build affordable multifamily rental housing to the FORTIFIED Gold in parishes affected by recent hurricanes. 

Multistate Programs 

State Programs (as of July 2025) 

Nine states (Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Oklahoma) offer statewide FORTIFIED grant programs. Most provide up to $10,000 in grants for single-family homeowners, although eligibility and requirements vary by state. 

  • Strengthen Alabama Homes – since 2011, offers grants up to $10,000 to state residents to install FORTIFIED roofs on their single-family homes. This initial state-led program has provided more than $70 million in funding and helped more than 7,000 residents install FORTIFIED roofs. 
  • Strengthen Kentucky Homes – starting in 2025, offers grants to homeowners, building contractors, and nonprofits for FORTIFIED roofs. 
  • Strengthen Mississippi Homes – began in 2024, provides wind mitigation grants up to $10,000 to homeowners in six coastal counties for FORTIFIED roofs. 

* Funding to re-roof to IBHS’s FORTIFIED standard is also available in Florida and South Carolina. 

How Are Programs Funded?

  • Federal Funding: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) CDBG-DR and CDBG programs.  
  • State Funding: Vary by state, including the state’s general fund, surplus lines associations like in Mississippi, or agent licensure fees like in Alabama. 
  • Private Funding: FHLB Dallas’s FORTIFIED Fund programs are funded by their revenues.  Funds from NCIUA’s underwriting surplus funds its grant program

HOW CAN I LEARN MORE? 

To learn more about FORTIFIED grant programs, please reach out to Michael Newman at mnewman@ibhs.org.