With a change in Florida law, will schools used as hurricane shelters be at risk?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During Hurricane Irma, public schools made up the majority of shelters used by those who were unable to evacuate from areas hit by the storm.

The schools held up well, preliminary data shows, but a change in how Florida updates its building codes could determine how schools may survive during future storms.
 
About 6 million Floridians evacuated the state ahead of Hurricane Irma. Many of those who remained were able to survive by taking refuge in the more than 600 shelters set up around Florida, most of which were in public schools.

“People don't have to go far from their home,” said Andrea Messina, of the Florida School Boards Association. “Many people who live locally have the ability perhaps to walk to the facility.”

Hurricane Charley destroyed six public schools in 2004, but building codes have improved since then. Irma appears to have caused only minimal damage to public schools.

“A school that was built under a previous building code could easily get hit,” Messina said. “So technically, the winds just didn't go in the areas where the schools that might have been at risk were.”

Soon after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, the state began strictly adhering to international building codes. Every three years, the state would adopt all-new standards added to the code.

Now, a new law allows the state to pick and choose which new standards to adopt and which to ignore.

Advocates fear the change will allow Florida’s standards to fall behind, leaving homes and structures at risk.

But despite having the option, there is no indication corners will be cut when it comes to school safety, said Carol Bowen, chief lobbyist for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida.

“There is no language or effort to take us back to where we were pre-Andrew,” Bowen said in a statement. “What happens moving forward – I have to imagine – will be a topic of conversation in the 2018 session.”

At the earliest, a changing building code won’t affect new construction until after 2020.

The Florida Homebuilders Association pushed the legislation during the 2017 session. The group maintains safety is always the key concern when deciding to adopt or ignore a new building standard.