Wind vs Flood John G. Minor, General Contractor Complete, Inc.

Wind vs Flood NFIP – originated in 1968, supplemented by the Federal Disaster Protection Act of 1973 requiring federally backed financial institutions and the mortgage loans that originate from them to require flood insurance Special Flood Hazard Area ( SFHA) – 26% chance of being flooded during the term of a 30 yr mortgage as compared to 9% chance of fire $31.4 billion paid between 1978 as of 3/31/06 $2.4 billion in claims paid , $16 billion in 2005 Currently 5 million policies in 20,200 plus communities Source

Wind vs Flood Flood Insurance Program ran up $17.5 billion dollars in debt Interest costs are $900 million per year NFIP rates are not actuarially sound and lead to a deficit with impact on the American tax payers

Wind vs Flood Flood Policy or Elevation Certificate – First thing to understand on any wind/water loss. This will tell you where are you in relation to sea level, grade at time of measurement and from floor to floor pre or post firm

Wind vs Flood

50% Rule  The 50% Rule as identified by the International Building Code 2003 is: R Substantially improved or substantially damaged existing buildings in areas prone to flooding- For applications for reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of existing buildings or structures located in an area prone to flooding as established by Table R301.2(1), the building official shall examine or cause to be examined the construction documents and shall prepare a finding with regard to the value of the proposed work. For buildings that have sustained damage of any origin, the value of the proposed work shall include the cost to repair the building or structure to its pre-damage condition. If the building official finds that the value of proposed work equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the building or structure before the damage has occurred or the improvement is started, the finding shall be provided to the board of appeals for a determination of substantial improvement or substantial damage. Applications determined by the board of appeals to constitute substantial improvement or substantial damage shall meet the requirements of Section R323. ( up to current code )

Wind vs Flood Freeboard Rule Covered under the ICC portion of the flood policy up to 30 K; must be adopted by county or municipality. In Santa Rosa County it states:  Adopt four (4) foot free board on top of existing base floor elevations, in “A” and “V” zones only, into the county’s zoning ordinance, effective July 1,2006

Wind vs Flood Ivan - Wind and Flood Once a flood line was established flood paid from there down Wind paid as damaged from flood line up

Wind vs Flood - Site inspection Pre / Post firm – This will establish the coverage Flood Line – Obtain measurements from grade/ Finished Floor Elevation (FFE) hire surveyor or obtain elevation cert. Photo & Measure Site - with landmarks likely to remain and exterior of property.

Site Inspection – Wind Tree – The presence of a tree on a house is generally accepted as wind damage. Good documentation of this condition becomes important later on. Flying Debris – Areas of flying debris above the flood line should be documented and may have affected the 2 x 4 framing of wood structures Wind Damage and Resulting Wind Driven Water – Document areas of obvious wind damage above the flood line including, shingle loss, siding removal, blown out windows or gable ends and resulting interior damage

Wind vs Flood Flood Line finished floor elevation (FFE) - Measure with a tape up close and perspective Still water/ surge inside debris line. Inside measurements may be different than those recorded outside due to ramp up effect of wave action

Wind vs Flood Still Water / Velocity Water with wave action when there is nothing remaining Determined due to physical damage indicators, scarring on pilings, trees, debris at flood level or above

Wind vs Flood – Katrina

Third floor roof removed due to wind Flood water thru 4 foot from finished floor elevation on first floor

Wind vs Flood – Katrina

Water damage to ceilings of first floor Flood has removed floor framing

Wind vs Flood – Elevation LOMA – F Sometimes looks can be confusing and inspection without elevation cert and map is not enough Grade can be compliant at time of construction even with piling construction resulting in the first floor of a structure as pre-firm – see Hatteras 2003 Hurricane Isabel

Wind vs Flood – Elevation Look for multiple elevations in a single house affecting flood lines Timing of permitting of repair will determine elevation requirements as municipalities adopt local codes and accept the maps drawn by FEMA for the local flood plain

Flood Inundation Map NFIP Flood Inundation Map – Excellent tool when available sometime after the loss and based on observation of survey teams set up by FEMA the maps give ranges as to the height of flood waters and anomalies in flood height can and do occur

FIRM Maps FIRM (Flood Insurance Rate Map) Provides the current elevation requirements for a particular residence. These maps are continually upgraded and changed and are now the D(Digital)- FIRM Elevations certain properties are “grandfathered in” until they are substantially damaged

Wind vs Flood Exposure Type – Certain locations invite higher wind speeds – Gulf or water front, top of hills, height from grade, tree protection, protection from other well built homes/ downwind missile range for poorly built homes

Wind vs Flood Flooding in X Zones – In Katrina this happened due to the infrequency of storms in this portion of the Gulf Coast, the lack of claims resulting in no rewriting of the coast and no strengthening of the flood elevation requirements All types of residences get flooded in neighbor hoods not seemingly on the coast by many sources other than wind driven waves including rising of tidal waters in bays, bayous and sounds, storm water runoff, and flooding from lakes, rivers and due to dam failure or pressure release actions of the state see Fran

Wind & Flood – Studies Government minimum flood elevation requirements for properties vulnerable to storm surge throughout the Gulf Coast region are woefully inadequate, according to a new study of property damage caused by Hurricane Ike. The study, HURRICANE IKE: Nature's Force vs. Structural Strength, reveals that significantly more Gulf Coast homes and businesses are imperiled by disastrous flooding from storm surge than previously recognized by property owners and policymakers.

Wind & Flood – Studies The report was issued by the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), which is an independent, not-for-profit applied research and communications organization supported by property insurers and reinsurers. "Lessons learned from Hurricane Ike, which is the third-costliest hurricane on record, should be used by vulnerable communities from Texas to Maine to effectively reduce property damage in all hurricane-exposed areas," said IBHS President and CEO Julie Rochman. "Simply put, the study found that many properties are not built high enough to withstand storm surges, tightly enough to prevent water from causing interior damage or strongly enough to prevent damage when high winds strike.“

Wind & Flood – Studies According to the study's findings, the BFE requirement for homes on Texas' Bolivar Peninsula ranged between 13 feet for homes built in the 1970s and 17 feet to 19 feet for homes built beginning in All but a handful of properties within the first few rows of houses from the coast, built to even the highest elevation requirements, were washed away during Hurricane Ike. By contrast, the study found that 10 homes on the Bolivar Peninsula designed and built under IBHS's building code-plus new construction program, Fortified…for safer living, survived the storm sustaining minor damage. The Fortified homes had outdoor decks at 18 feet that were destroyed, but the homes, which were elevated to 26 feet, survived.

Wind & Flood – Studies The IBHS study questions the current basis for elevating properties along the Gulf Coast and urges the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to provide greater incentives for building well above the minimum elevations now in place. More than 50 percent of the nation's population lives within 50 miles of the coast, with more than $9 trillion of insured coastal property vulnerable to hurricanes. The NFIP, which is the federal government program that provides flood insurance to homes and businesses, also establishes base flood elevation (BFE) levels for properties

Wind & Flood – Studies According to IBHS Senior Vice President of Research and Chief Engineer Dr. Tim Reinhold, most homes in coastal areas are built to or slightly above 100-year base flood elevations. "A 100-year flood means that the level of flood water has a 1 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any single year. However, it is well recognized in the engineering community that coastal homes built to this level have a 26 percent chance of being flooded or demolished over the life of a 30-year mortgage. This chance increases to about 40 percent in a 50-year period,“ Dr. Reinhold said. "All it takes is a breaking wave about 2 feet above the base of a house to knock out the bottom floor or destroy a frame house," explained Reinhold. "The chances of destruction can be significantly reduced by employing what has been learned about the importance of proper elevation, which can be relatively inexpensive when building a coastal home," he continued. "For example, building to a 500-year base flood elevation reduces the chance of storm surge exceeding the base elevation to about 10 percent in a 50-year period.“ Special Thanks to the IBHS

Documentation of Conditions Timing of events based on hard data, video evidence, weather data, storm chaser info is becoming pertinent evidence of damage “Concurrent Damage” definition Building Code Data - associated with original construction or substantial improvement to determine in general what code the structure should live to Flood Map – DFIRM data and LOMA will set out current elevation requirements by revision date, Theoretically structures built after a certain date will be built to the same elevation. - Sometimes an owner will elect to build out a bottom floor regardless of good practice and or local building code. This is a life safety issue and a good local plain manager should keep safe and disallow this practice. These areas invariably flood in lesser events and up havens for mold and no place to live. ASTM specifications – A good source for wind speed testing and standards for test procedures Applicable Manufacturer Warranties

Documentation of Conditions Compliance associated with requirements of NFIP – sometimes construction type can affect way a structure survives the flood. Too much constriction of flood waters designed to flow thru can bring the second floor of a structure down. Pre-Existing Conditions – Rotten or poorly maintained exteriors can uncover hidden problems tat affect the way a structures reacts to wind and flood. Windows are more likely to blow in if all of the studs are rooted around the opening. Construction type where the second floor sits on the first non-elevated floors. Attention to how structures are built will connect the dots as to how they fail

Wind vs Flood Flood line is a good indicator but not all Direct Physical Damage definition in flood policy Xactimate delineation of values wind v flood Likely hood of wind damage further damaging items also damaged by flood - Concurrent Causation Structural framing of building – slab on grade, stem wall, piers and pilings with or without blowout walls Blow out walls should be constructed so as to displace from position under an elevated house to allow flood waters to flow thru

Wind vs Flood – Pricing Items to be included in wind portion of claim Items to be excluded from flood coverage Delineation of HOA/HO6 on commercial residential policies Overhead and Profit allowances

Wind vs Flood 50% Rule  The 50% Rule as identified by the International Building Code 2003 is: R Substantially improved or substantially damaged existing buildings in areas prone to flooding- For applications for reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other improvement of existing buildings or structures located in an area prone to flooding as established by Table R301.2(1), the building official shall examine or cause to be examined the construction documents and shall prepare a finding with regard to the value of the proposed work. For buildings that have sustained damage of any origin, the value of the proposed work shall include the cost to repair the building or structure to its pre-damage condition. If the building official finds that the value of proposed work equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the building or structure before the damage has occurred or the improvement is started, the finding shall be provided to the board of appeals for a determination of substantial improvement or substantial damage. Applications determined by the board of appeals to constitute substantial improvement or substantial damage shall meet the requirements of Section R323.

Wind vs Flood Local benchmark data – finding elevation from grade in a neighborhood can go a long way in making sense of the reported facts of the loss Surveyor tools can tell the story visually in a way that an elevation certificate can not.

Wind vs Flood – Replacement Theoretically structures built after a certain date will be built to at least the same minimum elevation. Sometimes an owner will elect to build out a bottom floor regardless of good practice and or local building code. This is a life safety issue and up to good local flood plain managers and contractors to discourage

Wind vs Flood Building Code – both for replacement cost determinations and as associated with original construction or substantial improvement to determine in general what code the structure should live to older structures are much more likely to be damaged by wind and or flood Large cost driver for new construction i.e. laminated windows, elevation compliant utilities elevated from flood zone, continuous load path thru threaded rod, fasteners, clips, shear walls, blocking and tie downs as the IBHS points out once you have gone to the cost to elevate a few more feet is negligible as compared to the benefit

Wind vs Flood Eye Witness / Fact Testimony – in more difficult files expect to interview the builder and or any other person that can provide testimony as to how a property was constructed including any special features

Wind vs Flood Look for indicators on the pictures you have to determine degree of damage Pictures will show the roof water damaged and knowledge that the kitchen is on the second floor will allow a person to map the water damage in a unit

Wind vs Flood

It is important to understand how a structure is put together to understand where the flood stops and the wind begins The flood in the photo to the left has removed the load bearing components of this spread foundation in two tiers Wind has blown back the metal mansard

Wind vs Flood Flood Damage Out of date construction practices do not hold up to large events Code upgrades are a natural part of the evolution of the coast and why buildings are made stronger

Wind vs Flood “ Total Loss ” – This is when the entire structure has to be brought down regardless of cause wind, flood, code or ordinance

Wind vs Flood – Elevation FEMA – Map Service provides FIRMettes for free for local planning and understanding of replacement costs

Pre-Firm after Ike

Wind vs Flood – Ike TWIA – 9/13/2008 Galveston, TX. After Ike TWIA took two approaches to determining the claim value both a statistical and engineering approach to the handling of slab claims and paid the larger of the two values. They considered many items when establishing the numbers

TWIA Applied Techniques Identified types of siding, roofing, windows if known Provided a Wind Engineer / Meteorological report Reported the elevation of first horizontal member Reported the elevation of the roof Performed statistical analysis Determined age of dwelling Many properties received 11.2% of the policy under the statistical analysis Determined age of roof (many new after Rita in 2004) Compared 400 paid claims on damaged properties and related that to the slab cases.

Post- Firm after Ike

Wind vs Flood Thermal Imaging – an excellent tool to detect anomalies in building components. Water as a mineral holds heat longer resulting in water damaged building materials retaining heat longer then other drier adjoining or similar but dry substrate Can accurately delineate damages from wind and flood as long as they do not co mingle

Wind vs Flood The site will reveal clues as to the former residences i.e. granite countertops were identified in the depo of the owners house pictured above. Existing slabs or piling spacing will allow for at least a representation of the size of the structure pre-loss

Wind vs Flood – The Research University of Florida – The Ultimate Hurricane Simulator FSU – Modeling LSU – Building the Digital Hurricane Texas Tech – First Up mobile weather collection UNF – Bridges & Roads wired and post storm data collection

University of Florida

Digital Hurricane Symposium In January of 2009, the field research programs organized a first-of-its-kind symposium at LSU to begin the process of meshing the independent deployment activities together to form organized campaigns that produce integrated datasets in Real Time. The major outcome was the creation of an umbrella organization that provides “global” coordination at landfall while allowing individual programs to meet their research deliverablesfirst-of-its-kind symposium at LSU Thus the Digital Hurricane Consortium (DHC) was formed. Its constituent academic members include the experts in wind and flood monitoring from the Center for Severe Weather Research, Clemson University, Florida Institute of Technology, Florida International University, Louisiana State University, Texas Tech University, University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of Colorado, University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, University of North Florida and the University of Notre Dame.Center for Severe Weather ResearchClemson UniversityFlorida Institute of TechnologyFlorida International UniversityLouisiana State UniversityTexas Tech UniversityUniversity of Alabama at HuntsvilleUniversity of ColoradoUniversity of FloridaUniversity of OklahomaUniversity of North FloridaUniversity of Notre Dame

Digital Hurricane Symposium  Center for Severe Weather Research, Center for Severe Weather Research  Clemson University, Clemson University  Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology  Florida International University Florida International University  Louisiana State University Louisiana State University  Texas Tech University Texas Tech University * Hyperlinks  University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of Alabama at Huntsville  University of Colorado, University of Colorado  University of Florida, University of Florida  University of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma  University of North Florida University of North Florida  University of Notre Dame. University of Notre Dame

Wind vs Flood Pre-storm photos provided by the owner to determine original construction type and quality are very helpful and usually include a Christmas tree or new baby in the foreground and critical construction details in the back

Wind vs Flood Conditions remaining after a loss can help in the overlay of the costs In this case from Katrina the floor coverings and floor plan of this slab on grade home is easy to identify and establish values

Wind vs Flood Common condition found after Hurricane Katrina Every detail remaining on the site will become evidence at trial as to expected loads a property can be expected to withstand associated with wind and flood

Wind vs Flood Recently the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) at the request of several members of congress has found a potential “conflict of interest” in the (WYO) insurance companies administering hurricane claims and segregating the damages The nature of this responsibility requires that the adjuster take into account causation in determining the loss and applying the damages to the wind or flood claim. This effectively puts the companies and its’ adjusters in the drivers seat as to loss ratio and costs to the company. NFIP claims that it does not have the authority to require submission of the claims data from the wind company and therefore can not guard against this potential self dealing Source

Wind vs Flood – The Claims Experts 1. Meteorologists – Used to determine the timing of the different aspects of the damage 2. Structural/Forensic Engineers – Overlay the weather data to the structure to determine within a reasonable degree of engineering certainty that what portions of a structure would have been damaged by a given peril 3. Cost providers – Present the costs associated with the individual causation determinations and building characteristics

Wind vs Flood – All Risk All Risk The Multiple Perils Act of 2007 H.R. bill 920 furthered by Congressman Gene Taylor of Mississippi was an attempt at an all risk policy This act has been opposed by insurance industry groups who say it could cause as much as $ billion a year in losses with a similar track record as flood would end up a huge issue for tax payers. Insurance industry lobbyist argue that while insurance has doubled since Katrina policies are typically available in many cases by the JUA programs administered by each state i.e. Citizens, NC JUA, TWIA

Wind v Flood – Excess Flood Excess Flood is so necessary in today’s world where beach front homes can be $200 plus a square For example a 4000 SF 200 a square is $800,000 with a maximum recovery of 250k from the flood an owner who loses his property is upside down $550,000