Page 97 - Building Codes News Today

Special needs folks have already been under a mandatory evacuation i think as of yesterday is when that was called. so were here for our residents and we just want all of them to be safe. and thats the most important thing. >> i know miami has learned from past hurricanes, from past decades, and building codes are very -- i know people pride themselves on the strength of the building codes there. in terms of a category 4 or category 5, can buildings safely sustain that? are they built for that? ...

In the end, the smokestack didnt fall, and radiation wasnt released, and the nuclear units remained in stable condition. but that was a scare, what happened at turkey point nuclear power plant in south florida in 1992 when a cat 5 came calling. 25 miles away in miami, there was utter devastation from andrew. the hurricane ripped the roofs off houses and flattened whole neighbored. andrew changed florida in terms of who lives there and what people expect from extraordinary storms. and you can in ...

Like that. when you imagine the pictures weve seen. all of that debris, the houses and structures that have been weekend. now another storm right behind it. its kind of unfathomable. >> mark: they dont have many tall buildings in those delightful sleepy british colonies but they do in florida. the wind speeds, as i understand, get higher the taller you get. in a tall building, its more like 200 miles an hour. whats it going to do to those buildings? >> its a great question. we havent seen that a...

Friends outside of the evacuation zone is the best choice since shelters only provide for basic needs. >> reporter: hurricane irma, seen from space, the strongest in the atlantic basin since wilma in 2005. is south florida ready? >> well, i would say were not ready. no one is ever ready for a category 5 hurricane. >> reporter: in the 25 years since hurricane andrew, construction has boomed in florida which toughened up its building codes. during that time, nearly 1 in 10 new homes in the entire ...

And people are heeding that danger. >> when you hear these forecasts and you hear how strong this is right now, 185 miles an hour and obviously starting to hit warmer water, do you -- you said you lived there a long time. have you really ever seen anything like this? >> our closest storm to this would be hurricane donna back in 1960. this is sort of on the same track as donna, too. so, yeah, i was young. i was ten years old, but i remember that and its there and the awareness is there and of cou...

Green zone is probably safe, you can tolerate that and the amber zone, people could, if they had the right building codes and so i believe they took our recommendations and then the red zone, the highest risk zones probably should not be rebuilt. thats a local decision. the president is talking to more of the service members, look -- we cant hear right now. it looks like the coast guard that hes talking about judging by uniforms but getting back to what you were saying, a little bit of levity th...

Christopher, on to which side does he fall if we yet know, the unsurer side or the builder side. >> it is unclear. and that is the big questions we have to try to ask. his fema director brock long told me just before harvey hits that this administration wants to push local officials to make bett better choice and better protect us against extreme weather and this is the chance to follow through on that and whether they encourage and insist that the texas used the tens of billion dollars in feder...

Of people live to move there to work. as you look toward the future will that have an impact on how you rebuild? >> first while the local governments have to be involved in zoning. state government is responsible for building codes. and then the federal government particularly the core in this. >> kelly: i want to go to the president now. hes back at ellington field thats where houston is currently part, we believe that he might be wrapping up things there because he is also planning to fly to l...

Prevagen. the name to remember. there is still a longs road ahead for houston. bloomberg "business week" covered this weekes highlights. how poor city planning contributed to the massive flooding we of soon this week. get this, texas is one of four states along the gulf and atlantic coasts with no, zero mandatory statewide building codes. its growing population has led

Acceptable in past decades are no longer acceptable. storms are getting worse. >> okay, well, if peters solution is think about the environment, make long-term good decisions and think about global warming, im losing hope because those are not arguments that this administration makes. what do you think, mark? >> you know, i wouldnt want to comment on the administrations position, but i would say that the agency as a whole, as far as fema, has historical perspective that shows where you have loss...