Amid Stronger Storms, Resilient Construction Programs Pay Off in Alabama

Some U.S. states are adding incentives for weather-resilient construction in the face of strengthening hurricanes, tropical storms, and other coastal extreme weather.

During the 2025 hurricane season, communities bordering the Atlantic should expect between 13 to 19 named storms—including three to five major hurricanes—according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) annual prediction. That would make for an above-average season; an average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 named storms, including around seven hurricanes. The 2025 predicted figures would be slightly more tempered than 2024, but still a bit higher than average.

NOAA estimated a 30 percent chance of a near-normal season and a 60 percent chance of an above-normal season. The forecasts are rarely wrong, but when they are, the hurricane season is usually busier than predicted, The New York Times reported.

“It only takes one storm hitting an area to cause a disaster, regardless of the overall activity for the season,” NOAA cautioned. “Therefore, residents, businesses, and government agencies of coastal and near-coastal regions should prepare every hurricane season regardless of this, or any other, seasonal outlook.”

That preparedness increasingly involves resilient construction in hurricane-prone regions.

A new analysis of hurricane-affected homes in Alabama reviewed thousands of insurance claims related to the 2020 storm Hurricane Sally, which hit the coastline with winds up to 105 miles per hour. The study—from the University of Alabama’s Center for Risk and Insurance Research, commissioned by the Alabama Department of Insurance—found that houses built with storm resilience in mind survived the hurricane with less damage and fewer insurance claims.

Homes retrofitted or built to the Fortified Home voluntary construction code created by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) for wind and rain mitigation saw significantly fewer and less costly claims.

The system includes enhanced fasteners to hold down the roof deck (the framing for the roof), a sealed roof deck to minimize water intrusion, enhanced edge details at roof edges to keep the roof deck and cover secured, and attic vents tested to mitigate wind-driven water intrusion. Higher levels of the Fortified code can include impact-rated openings, properly anchored chimneys, and impact-resistant wall sheathing. The program requires third-party verification of the work.

But these building improvements aren’t necessarily cheap, especially for retrofits. The increased costs range from 0.5 to 3 percent for new construction and 6 to 16 percent for retrofitting an existing home, the report said. The long-term cost-savings can be notable, however, especially in the wake of a disaster.

If every Hurricane Sally-impacted house in two counties had met Fortified standards, insurance companies would have spent 75 percent less in payouts—saving $112 million—and policyholders would have paid up to 65 percent less in deductibles, the study estimated. Note, though: 46 percent of Hurricane Sally insurance claims were related to trees or other debris falling on homes, which would not be mitigated by Fortified compliance.

Alabama implemented mandatory minimum insurance discounts for Fortified-certified homes—cutting as much as half off of the wind portion of homeowners’ premiums, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The state also launched an incentive program offering grants of up to $10,000 for homeowners to retrofit their houses to meet Fortified standards. Alabama has spent $86 million for 8,700 Fortified retrofits since 2015.

“Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina left our state battered and facing an insurance crisis,” said former Alabama Insurance Commissioner Jim Ridling in an IBHS news release. “Carriers were pulling out of the market, consumers were hurting, and state leaders were grappling for answers. We had to think differently. We had to prepare better on the front end so we could avoid chaos on the back end. The storms were going to come. We had to change the economics of what happened after the storm hits.

“Adapting the IBHS Fortified building standard through the Strengthen Alabama Homes program, coupled with strong local building codes and mandated wind mitigation discounts, helped us stem the cycle of loss, making Alabama not only a safer place to live, but a state with a healthy insurance market,” he continued. “It has changed the stability of the insurance market and the economic landscape of coastal Alabama.”

Other U.S. states are taking notice of Alabama’s approach to extreme weather resilience. Last month, Alabama Insurance Commissioner Mark Fowler addressed a California legislative committee in support of a proposed bill that would grant funds for fire-safe roofing and defensible space to protect from wildfires, the AP reported.

“Natural disasters like windstorms, earthquakes, or wildfires will come no matter what we do,” Fowler told the committee. “That means you must find ways to build stronger before the event so you will have less damage after the event. It’s actually a pretty simple concept.”