Fortifying Existing Coastal Buildings

December 8, 2014

North Carolina Sea Grant

Coastal property owners who follow North Carolina Sea Grant storm mitigation recommendations may accomplish significant improvements, often at modest costs, to reduce wind and water damage to their home from hurricanes and other storms. These homeowners also can also lower their insurance costs significantly. The efforts reflect North Carolina Sea Grant extension’s partnership with the N.C. Department of Insurance and the Institute for Businesses and Home Safety Fortified training program to increase building and design standards. Efforts have included workshops to train builders, as well as training for building code inspectors and other professionals. A team led by NC Sea Grant also assessed causes of collapse of wood-frame residences after Hurricane Ike in Texas. The team worked closely with FEMA and the findings help predict the response of structures and infrastructure to combined loadings resulting from hurricanes.

Images of Sea Grant's work in research, education and extension provided by (from left to right) Wisconsin, Guam and Florida Sea Grant programs. Design by Hallee Meltzer | National Sea Grant Office.

Alabama

Sea Grant takes center stage in Oceanography special issue

NOAA Sea Grant-funded research and work with coastal and Great Lakes communities across the nation are being highlighted in a special issue of “Oceanography,” the official journal of The Oceanography Society.

This special issue, published in April 2024, features 36 articles contributed by Sea Grant authors across 29 programs and the NOAA National Sea Grant Office.

Sea Grant’s impacts ripple across U.S. communities

Sea Grant’s work addresses a range of coastal and marine challenges through four focus areas: healthy coastal ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, environmental literacy and

NOAA Sea Grant Develops 5-Year Aquaculture Investment Plan

Year-over-year, Sea Grant is committed to supporting aquaculture development across the nation, as a means of enhancing economic resilience and nutritional security in American communities. Sea Grant recently developed a five-year Aquaculture Investment Plan to guide its efforts in supporting aquaculture research, extension and education.