President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and North Dakota’s Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread recently appeared on Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria Bartiromo to discuss building code enhancements as a way to mitigate damage left behind in the wake of natural disasters.
As California takes the next steps to fortify itself and make communities safer after the recent devastating wildfires, Godfread noted that Florida was in a similar situation after Hurricane Andrew’s destruction in 1992. He said that after Andrew, and “after the number of hurricanes that blew through Florida…they’ve done some significant building code enhancements, so you got fortified homes all through Florida.”
Godfread continued:
“I’ll bring you back to the Tampa hurricane that just happened last year. For the most part Tampa kind of boarded up. They shut up the windows and the hurricane blew through but it wasn’t the disaster that Hurricane Andrew was because of the steps that they’ve taken on the building code and the resiliency piece and that’s something we need to encourage all across the country, especially in high risk areas.”
IBE is proud to promote innovative building materials, such as spray foam insulation. Not only does spray foam keep homes more comfortable year-round, it increases the resilience of structures to defend against potential destruction, protecting both property and life.
With natural disasters always on the horizon, it is imperative that state and local governments ensure building codes are designed and implemented with resiliency at the forefront, and that developers build homes and businesses with the most resilient materials available.