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.

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," 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."

The IBHS study also provides a detailed, real world performance evaluation of superior construction techniques when tested by a truly extreme weather event;

It also includes a retrofit guide for Texans in coastal areas to use. The guide takes into account the current Texas building code requirements and outlines specific retrofit options that homeowners and residents can use to harden their property by doing things such as strengthening their roofs, accoroding to Rochman. insurancejourna