Library

NOAA webpage providing images and short descriptions of different types of hurricane shutters.

Website detailing how to prepare for, stay safe during, and return home after hurricanes.

A news article documenting the milestone of the FORTIFED homes program surpassing 18,000 homes.

ICC-ES Evaluation Report reviewing proprietary steel shear wall panels developed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company to resist vertical and lateral loads in walls resulting from wind or earthquakes.

An impact test report from projectile missile tests against brick veneer, verifying that brick veneers perform well to resisting hurricane force wind driven debris.

Case study describing Alachua County, Florida’s, green infrastructure strategy for land use development that incorporates rain gardens, ponds, swales, and native vegetation to manage stormwater.

Central return designs require an open pathway between the room and the heart of the house where the return grill is located.

Indoor airPLUS is a voluntary partnership and labeling program that helps new home builders improve the quality of indoor air by requiring construction practices and product specifications that minimize exposure to airborne pollutants and contaminants.

This document covers how broken windows can allow wind and rain inside the house and even lead to roof failure.

Article describing the insurance savings of a home with a hip roof versus a gable roof from the perspective of an insurance advisor.

Article describing how the configuration of surrounding buildings affects the wind loads on a hip roof in a low-rise building.

Website providing a probabilistic map of the expected number of damaging earthquakes around the U.S.

Article describing dozens of ideas on how to retrofit a home so it is more earthquake ready.

Guide describing tools for island and hurricane-prone communities on redevelopment and rehabilitation of homes to prepare for future natural disasters.

A publication describing how to protect coastal investments by adapting to natural processes and protecting coastal environments and shorelines.

Factsheet describing the concept of load paths and the important connections in a wind uplift load path; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Guide describing sound mitigation measures to lower building natural disaster vulnerability to assist local officials and community decision makers in coastal areas.

Web article describing many ways homeowners, contractors, and builders can make homes more resistant to hurricanes, tornadoes, high winds, floods, and hail.

A presentation describing the standards regarding who is responsible for what part of the design to ensure the roof truss is properly designed and braced.

A Recovery Advisory guide reccomending practices for designing and installing metal roof systems that will enhance wind resistance in high-wind regions (i.e., greater than 90-miles per hour [mph] gust design wind speed).

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, seismic, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2022 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2010 and is available in both digital and print...

FEMA mitigation assessment team report following Hurricane Charley in Florida including observations, recommendations, and technical guidance for retrofitting hurricane-damaged homes.

FEMA Mitigation Assessment Team Report describing damages from Hurricane Michael in Florida in Oct. 2018 and recommendations for future hurricane preparedness.

Report providing a resource that communities can use to identify and evaluate a range of potential mitigation actions for reducing risk to natural hazards and disasters.

Website providing information on tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and more.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane's sustained wind speed.

Report updating and expanding on a 2005 study that found, among other things, that every $1 of natural hazard mitigation funded by FEMA between 1993 and 2003 saved the American people an average of $4 in avoided future losses.

Website containing USGS-related publications related to natural hazards.

Article describing a steel connector product for jack rafter connections.

A website containing a video series by NW Seismic illustrating how a seismic retrofit should be done and ways they are done incorrectly.

Report providing quick reference guide information to help a family prepare for hurricane season, including seven steps to a wind resistant home, a wind inspection checklist, and how to find a contractor.

Study examining how design features, such as building envelope openings and compartmentalization, affect the wind pressure in typical low-rise buildings with gable and hip roofs.

A fact sheet educating the public on the potential hazards and safe use of portable generators.

Database describing FEMA preparedness webinars including natural hazard preparedness.

Fact sheet describing how to prepare for a natural disaster and assemble a disaster supply kit.

Database of approved products that meet the requirements of the High Velocity Hurricane Zone.

Recovery Advisory document provide guidance related to the use and installation of opening protection systems to protect glazed openings (windows) from wind-borne debris during high-wind events.

Article describing how structural screws can be used to provide resistance to wind uplift in buildings.

Report providing strategies to support occupant behavior changes for enhancing resilience, and to reduce a building's vulnerability to extreme weather, climate change, and loss of power.

A fact sheet providing tips on how to assemble a kit of food, water and other disaster supplies in the event of an emergency.

Report providing recommended designs and guidance for rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

Report describing the REDi™ Rating System, which is a framework for implementing “resilience-based earthquake design,” a holistic “beyond-code” design, planning and assessment approach for achieving earthquake resilience.

An EPA guide describing the causes and impacts of summertime urban heat islands, promoting strategies for lowering temperatures in U.S. communities.

Guide providing information for professional builders and contractors rehabbing flooded single-family houses with emphasis on safe practices and the most important activities in the rehab process.

A user forum discussing ways to reinforce a gable overhand that was framed using the ladder method by Mike Mahan.

Table in the IRC describing bracing requirements for specified wind speeds and building story locations.

A fact sheet educating homeowners on the importance of residential safe rooms, including their cost and how to register a safe room with local officials.