Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/101169
_____________ Left Page: Neighbors returning to Fairfield Beach, CT, found only this concrete foundation, nothing whatsoever remained of the house that was there. Photo: Marilee Caliendo/FEMA Above Left: An aerial view of the New York coastline in early November shows damage from Hurricane Sandy. Photo: Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA Left: These summer cottages in Stratford, CT, are examples of homes not severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy due to preparation and mitigation efforts including window and door protection and being elevated on pilings. Photo: Marilee Caliendo/FEMA Above: Two years ago, the condominium owners wanted to mitigate the damage from the Nor���easters typical along the New Jersey coast. The preparation included motorized hurricane protection shutters on windows and doors, which protected the property from Hurricane Sandy. ___ storms be they hurricanes or Nor���easters. These units needed special protection. ���Instead of using hurricane windows and doors, [the owners] opted for motorized shutters,��� says Charles Zuschnitt, owner, Miami-Somers, a Somers Point, NJ, home improvement products company founded in 1950. ���We partnered with Alutech United and used the Barracuda end retention system with Somfy motors. There were 96 motorized shutters installed. It is one of the largest jobs of its type that I know of���at least in the Northeast.��� Strong protection was needed to fend off the ravages of Sandy, which included wind damage, downed utility wires and wind-blown tree limbs and jettisoned roof shingles. ���We needed a certified hurricane shutter, and the slider and one window [for each unit] were too wide to use anything but an end retention system,��� Zuschnitt adds. Mitigation Efforts Preparation and mitigation played key roles in properties throughout the Northeast that survived Sandy. For example, many homes and summer cottages along the coast in Stratford, CT, were not severely damaged because they were built above flood and storm surge levels on cross-braced pilings. Several owners also installed window and door storm protection to further mitigate damage. In Old Saybrook, CT, many newer homes were designed with coastal storms in mind. Secured footings and pilings allowed floodwater to surge and recede; the flow-through design keeping the home safe. It is safe to say that although New England and the Northeast usually are not prone to hurricanes, millions of people there now have firsthand experience with winds, blowing debris, storm surges and down pouring rain. As they rebuild, mitigation is bound to be in their plans. IBS PREVIEW 2013 / STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION 13