Published February 16, 2023
Michel Bruneau, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, wrote a column for Florida Specifier on Hurricane Ian and its aftermath.
Looking at a specific community, he wrote that nine homes “constructed after 2014 all survived. All the other ones, built decades earlier, were wiped out by Hurricane Ian. Pricewise, older ocean-front homes with assessed values greater than the newer ones were destroyed just the same, which shows that it is not a matter of price, but one of construction. In other words, hurricanes are equal-opportunity home killers when they meet obsolete construction.”