Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mitigation Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Red Cross and builders’‑science groups urge targeted retrofit and Fortified standards for Connecticut
Summary
Speakers at the advisory council emphasized the human toll of repetitive disasters, showed how Fortified and retrofit programs reduce damage and claims, and urged programs that prioritize low‑income and medically vulnerable residents.
Speakers from the American Red Cross, IBHS and FLASH told the council that resilience programs that strengthen homes save money and reduce displacement—especially for the most socially vulnerable.
Richard Brannagan, CEO of the American Red Cross for Connecticut and Rhode Island, described the Red Cross experience responding to repetitive events and highlighted the human impacts of prolonged sheltering, food insecurity and health‑care interruption. He cited national figures presented earlier (474 fatalities in recent disaster tracking and three fatalities tied to Western Connecticut flooding in his remarks) and said the people who seek shelter are often those least able to absorb loss.
“Those folks are basically homeless as a result of multiple disasters that came,” Brannagan said, describing repeated evacuations and long sheltering that can leave families without housing stock to return to. He urged the council to include marginalized voices in program design.
Alexandra Carey of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) described the Fortified program—a voluntary, third‑party‑verified standard tailored to local hazards—and presented lab and field evidence that roof hardening and system‑level measures reduce damage. She reported that Fortified has now been applied to more than 70,000 properties nationwide and cited evaluation results from major storms showing roughly 22% lower damage and around a 35% lower likelihood of an insurance claim for Fortified homes; when claims occurred they were on average about $3,000 smaller.
Leslie Chapman Henderson of FLASH framed resilience as a three‑part formula—strong building codes, retrofit grant programs for pre‑code homes, and a culture of resilience that makes mitigation visible in the housing market. She demonstrated tools for consumers (InspectorProtect lookups) and behavior‑focused outreach (Garage Door/Hurricane Strong campaigns) that increase adoption.
Panelists stressed that codes alone do not fix existing homes, so retrofit grant design and verified standards that reduce roof and water intrusion failures should be central to the council’s work.
