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SATURDAY 04.04.15

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PASSOVER!

6
HURRICANE-PROOF DAYS
HOW TO

YOUR HOUSE
Truss

Hurricane straps
(made of galvanized metal)
help keep the roof fastened
to the walls in high winds.

Sheathing tape
4-inch wide waterproof
tape for seams.

Roof sheathing
Wood stringer
Metal
drip edge

Shingles
Hurricane
strap

Windows
and doors
Impact-rated
windows and
doors that can
withstand high
wind pressure
and protect a
home from
ying debris.

Gable
braces

Roong paper

Source: Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency

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Why flood
insurance
was hiked
up to 25%
JEAN MIKLE AND RUSS ZIMMER
@JEANMIKLE AND @RUSSZIMMER

Graphic by
JEFF COLSON
Staff Artist

New post-superstorm
process ties walls,
floors, ceilings together

Protecting your home from the next storm

The storm surge and its oodwaters caused the vast majority of the
damage associated with superstorm Sandy. But with the government
and insurance companies rewarding more built-in resiliency in new
homes, some homeowners and contractors are going a step beyond
elevating and adopting the Insurance Institute for Business & Home
Safetys FORTIFIED home standard, which protects against
hurricane-force winds.

The next storm at the Jersey Shore started to hit

coastal homeowners Wednesday. It wasnt an onslaught
of wind and rain, but new surcharges and rate increases
on flood insurance bills.
The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act
of 2014, which took effect April 1, includes premium increases of up to 18 percent for primary homeowners
and 25 percent for those who own vacation homes or
rental properties. A new surcharge will also be assessed.
Its not going to be as cheap as it was, said Christine
OBrien, president of the Insurance Council of New
Jersey. I cant emphasize enough that homeowners
should talk to their agents about policies and educate
themselves about what their options are.
OBrien noted that the surcharges and premium increases have been put in place because the National
Flood Insurance Program is $24 billion in debt, in large
part due to losses incurred during Hurricane Katrina
and superstorm Sandy. Rates charged to many policy
holders do not reflect the actual risk of coastal living,
See RATES, Page 7A

RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

It becomes one piece all the walls

KEANSBURG From the outside, Ingrid Bairds

house doesnt look much different than any other new,
elevated home you might find in Keansburg or any
number of Shore towns being rebuilt after superstorm
Sandy.
Inside its walls, however, the home is unlike any other in New Jersey.
Galvanized steel and screws, instead of timber and
nails, make the frame. Baird wont have to worry about
the effects of moisture on wood, bugs, mold or mildew
corrupting the skeleton of her property.
The home also was made to be so robust that the
builder, Blue Diamond Contracting of Jackson, is seeking a certification that would mark it as the first postSandy built home designed to be resistant to hurricane-force winds.
I know I have nothing to worry about, said Baird, a
sergeant with the Hudson County Sheriffs Office, who
lives with her two teenage daughters.
Strengthening the ties between the roof and the
frame is the principle construction tenet of Fortified.
It aims to spread the force of wind throughout the

are tied together with the floor and the

ceiling. You literally would have to
knock the whole house over.
PAT MILLER
BLUE DIAMOND CONTRACTING

structure by enhancing the connections at various

joints throughout the frame, which doesnt have to be
metal to qualify as Fortified.
It becomes one piece all the walls are tied together with the floor and the ceiling. You literally
would have to knock the whole house over, said Pat
Miller, who runs Blue Diamond with her husband, Ray.
The Fortified home model was one of the key recommendations put forth in the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy crafted by the U.S. Department of

ASBURY PARK PRESS FILE PHOTO

Flooding and damage along Edgemont Drive and Deal Lake in

Loch Arbour after superstorm Sandy.

See HURRICANE, Page 7A

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL RISKS HORRIFIC WAR, NETANYAHU SAYS PAGE 1B

Trees-for-solar plan fires up opponents

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP
JACKSON Two New Jersey environmental groups
have come out against Six Flags Great Adventures
plans to cut down 18,000 trees for a 90-acre solar farm.
In addition, a spokesman for the state Department of
Environmental Protection says the agency doesnt support the project, to be built and operated by Bedminster-based KDC Solar LLC, but acknowledges it has limited jurisdiction over the site.
While New Jersey has become a national leader in

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developing solar power, the DEP does not believe that

clearing a forest is the right way to go about it, DEP
spokesman Larry Hajna said in an email.
We expressed our concerns to Six Flags and KDC
Solar, hoping they would consider other alternatives
such as using previously developed areas for panels.
They did not appear to be receptive to those ideas, he
said.
The 21.9 megawatt facility would be the largest solar
See SOLAR, Page 7A
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 81
SINCE 1879

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