Disaster

As Florida and the Southeast begin recovering from 2024’s destructive hurricanes, many people are asking: How can we rebuild sustainably and in a way that avoids the same damage, costs and trauma in future storms? There are proven ways to strengthen homes that pay off in the long run, such as installing hurricane straps to tie down roofs in coastal areas. But while homeowners have a clear desire to build safer and more resilient homes, they often run into roadblocks. As a civil engineer and a regulatory expert, we have been working with communities as culturally and politically different as Hawaii, Colorado, Alaska and Puerto Rico as they recover from disasters to understand what stands in the way of a sustainable, resilient recovery. Up-front costs have played a big role in how these communities recover, but so have homeowners’ and builders’ perceptions – and misperceptions – about costs and regulations. Up-front rebuilding costs After a disaste...