The best upgrade to reduce a home’s hurricane damage? A newer roof, FEMA study finds

Every time a hurricane slams into Florida, experts and residents alike come to the same conclusion: new and better building codes work.

Newer homes almost always survive powerful hurricanes better than older ones, thanks to Florida building codes that have been beefed up over the last few decades of hurricane strikes.

But a FEMA report surveying the damage done by Hurricane Ian, which struck Southwest Florida in 2022, found that the entire house didn’t have to be brand new to provide significantly increased protection. Researchers found that newer roofs alone — even attached to old homes — were the single most important upgrade in damage assessments.

In the case of Ian, the dividing line appeared to be 2015, when Florida’s building code made some big updates to how roofs are attached to houses, and how waterproof they have to be. One such change is requiring a sealed roof deck, which prevents rain from seeping into the rest of the house when high winds rip shingles off.

“The 1970s era homes performed better than some of the post-2002 new building code homes because of the sealed roof deck,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, president of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, or FLASH. “It was a nominal cost and a simple thing to do but it made a huge difference.”

In the post-Ian report, released last month, FEMA researchers examined neighborhoods where older homes with older roofs were right next to older homes with newer roofs and experienced the same high winds — about 200 homes in total.

According to their findings, 90% of homes with roofs installed before 2015 had damage. Only 28% of roofs installed after 2015 were damaged.

“The data and observations show newer roof coverings generally performed better than older roof coverings,” the report found.

The findings were most pronounced with asphalt shingle roofs, the most popular roof type. Metal panel roofs were far less likely to be damaged, and did not follow the same pattern as asphalt roofs.

Ever since Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992, Florida has been on the leading edge of new building codes, which are updated every three years. Many of those post-Andrew improvements, which kicked in statewide in 2002, were about strengthening roofs and how they’re connected to homes.

In recent years, as insurance premiums skyrocket, insurers are increasingly focused on replacing older roofs. Homeowners must foot the bill themselves, or face massive spikes in insurance costs — or loss of coverage altogether.

Homeowners in Florida have reported issues finding coverage if their roofs were built more than 15 years ago, despite new laws in Florida that prevent insurers from refusing coverage on homes solely because of the roof’s age.

Roof replacement has also been the origin of plenty of scams and fraudulent lawsuits, which insurers say is one of the main reasons they’ve raised their prices.

Chapman-Henderson said this report underlines the importance of the continued updates for Florida’s building code, especially for roofs, which are often the most expensive part of building or rebuilding a home.

“When you’re looking at a home and evaluating its ability to survive a hurricane, the health of the roof is the first question to ask,” she said. “It not only increases your performance in the hurricane itself but in the current environment it can also save you money on your insurance.”

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