on Dec. 3 1 , 2005, recommended 

 adopting local building codes as a 

 primary hazard mitigation strategy. 



Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco 

 signed a new law last year after the 

 storms, requiring enforcement of the 

 2003 IBC and IRC statewide. 



No one knows how North 

 Carolina would fare if a devastating 

 storm like Katrina hit. However, the 

 state has one of the oldest hurricane 

 construction codes in the country, 

 first implemented in the 1960s and 

 improved over time. The most recent 

 version is based on the International 

 Code, with amendments addressing 

 North Carolina's needs. 



Current building practices 

 include an open-piling foundation for 

 oceanfront properties, combined with 

 a high first-floor elevation, so waves 

 can pass through. 



"There is a low probability that 

 North Carolina will get a storm with 

 the water level as high as it was during 

 Katrina," says Rogers. 



N 



o one knows how North Carolina would 

 fare if a devastatingstorm like Katrina hit. 

 However, the state has one of the oldest 

 hurricane construction codes in the country, 

 first implemented in the 1960s and improved 

 over time. The most recent version is based 

 on the International Code, with amendments 

 addressing North Carolina's needs. 



Earlier this year, the N.C. Building 

 Code Council implemented rules requiring 

 storm shutters for windows and doors on 

 all new homes built within 1,500 feet of 

 the ocean, a much narrower zone than the 

 national standard. The Council will reassess 

 the width of the zone after several reports on 

 Florida are released later this year. 



ABOVE: Katrina forced many large boats aground in Gulfport and other places along Mississippi's Gulf Coast. 



Storm Expertise 



Rogers has decades of experience 

 studying buildings damaged by storms. During 

 the last 31 years, he's surveyed the structural 

 damage from the storm surge and waves 

 caused by most major hurricanes that have hit 

 the East and Gulf coasts. 



After Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Rogers 

 initiated a research project that revealed walls 

 designed to withstand 125-mph winds would 

 fail after only a few 1 .5-foot waves. 



Rogers and colleagues from North 

 Carolina State University and Oregon State 

 University developed a simple and failsafe 

 design for "breakaway walls" that would 

 maintain a building's structural integrity in 

 both high wind and storm surge. 



By 2005, ASCE had broadened the 

 application of the Sea Grant research results to 

 include building foundation design in "Coastal 

 A-Zones," areas where 1.5-foot breaking 

 waves are expected during the predicted 

 100-year storm surge. The information is 



incorporated into ASCE's updated national 

 Flood Resistant Design and Construction 

 Standard. 



Following the devastation of Hurricane 

 Katrina, FEMA — for the first time 

 — delineated the 1 .5-foot wave zone in its 

 Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps for 

 Mississippi. 



Rogers also has collaborated with South 

 Carolina Sea Grant, Clemson University and 

 the Blue Sky Foundation on a new type of 

 plywood shutters for homes. 



Structural Issues 



To understand the massive storm 

 surge and wave damage that occurred in 

 Mississippi, Rogers looked at two critical 

 issues: Why do high storm surges occur? 

 Why are waves a threat to buildings? 



To evaluate the flooding, he used a 

 storm surge model, known as the "Sea, 

 Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricane" 



10 Coastwatch I Autumn 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



