Tampa, Fla./ May 24, 2006/PRNewswire/—Construction is underway on the first Fortified ... for safer living homes in Texas. Crown Team Texas is building nearly 500 houses with this disaster-resistant designation in Beaumont and on the Bolivar Peninsula.
Fortified ... for safer living is the new-home construction designation program of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, a national nonprofit disaster-safety organization based in Tampa. The "Fortified" program specifies criteria that will increase a home's overall resistance to natural hazards based on its location. Along the Texas coast, those threats are predominantly hurricane force wind and flooding. With expansion into Texas, there are now about 2,500 "Fortified" homes completed, under construction or planned in ten states.
Jim Hayes of Crown Team Texas says building homes to the "Fortified" standard is just another step in their mission to build "nothing like it" projects. "We look for opportunities to create unique developments of all kinds that can be truly special. The threat of severe weather is very real in Texas, so the opportunity to offer our homes with this nationally recognized disaster-resistant designation was an easy decision to make."
Crown Team Texas will build Fortified ... for safer living homes at the Crescent on Walden in Beaumont, as well as in Laguna Harbor, Seagrass and Audubon Village developments on the Bolivar Peninsula.
Some of the "Fortified" features include:
- Homes built to withstand 130 mile-per-hour wind speeds
- Better connections tying the roof, walls and foundation together
- All openings (windows and doors) protected from impact
- Roofing materials that provide resistance to water penetration and high wind
- Where flooding is a concern, continuous concrete pilings to elevate the home.
To learn more about the Fortified ... for safer living program, visit the IBHS website.
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