Florida's approach to hurricane-resistant design and construction

Abstract

Florida, with 1927 kilometers (1197 miles) of coast-line, and a climatological history of recurring hurricanes of all categories, has long required design and construction to meet hurricane-resistant criteria. Design criteria and building codes for preventing and mitigating structural damage from hurricanes have been pioneered in the South Africa metropolitan areas of Greater Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and surrounding municipalities with a population of over four million permanent residents. Various means of providing these codes and criteria have been instituted since the great 1926 hurricane that damaged the Greater Miami area structurally and economically. This paper will examine the requirements in force in Florida at the present time for: The South Florida Building Code, the Sanibel Island Hurricane-Resistant Code, and the 1986 Florida Coastal Zone Protection Act using the revised Standard Building Code hurricane-resistance requirements.