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Mitigating Damage from Wind, Rain, and Flood

Mar 17, 2010; 7:51 AM ET

Bob visited with Beth Judge, coastal hazards specialist for the S.C. Sea Grant Extension Program, at 113 Calhoun Street: A Center for Sustainable Living to learn more about methods and materials used in buildings to make them more resistant to wind, hurricane, and flood damage. The 125-year-old house in downtown Charleston, was heavily damaged a decade ago by Hurricane Hugo.

Now in the last five years the house, which was donated to this project by the city of Charleston, has been reconstructed and retrofitted as a demonstration house to educate homeowners and builders about better ways of mitigating the effects of flood and high winds and even earthquakes in this part of the country. Additionally the project team will use the house as a lab to test out new technologies and see how they'll perform in Charleston. The 113 Calhoun project is a partnership of the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, Clemson University Extension Service, the City of Charleston, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, South Carolina state government, and Charleston County. As they toured the house, Beth pointed out the new foundation, sustainable construction materials, unique insulation installation, and reinforced structural connections.

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