Predictions at the beginning of the 2007 Hurricane Season indicated this would be as active a season as the 2004 and 2005 seasons. In part that was true.

With regards to the weather, the 2007 Hurricane Season produced fourteen (14) named storms and four (4) hurricanes, none of which fortunately impacted Florida. HOWEVER, with regards to other activity, this year’s hurricane season saw drastic changes to the construction requirements within the sate of Florida.

New legislation has been passed that will significantly affect re-roofing and hurricane mitigation requirements. Effective October 1, 2007, residential structures now require implementation of certain hurricane mitigation measures intended to strengthen residential structures against potential damage from hurricane conditions. For more information on this item, see the article titled, "Code Updates: Newly Passed Roofing and Storm Shutter Requirements" published in Bracken Engineering eNewsletter, Volume 1, Issue 4.

While we focus heavily on hurricane season within the state of Florida, it is important that we remember other potential hazards our structures and property face. These other hazards include fire, flood, ground subsidence and tornado. While structures can be prepared for hurricanes, preparing for more spontaneous structural disasters is much more difficult.

If you would like information on preparing your structure for or recovering from a structural disaster, our disasters group is ready to assist you. Please contact Tim Roda at troda@brackenengineering.com