Three of the states in the major storm zone area hit by Hurricane Katrina lack comprehensive building codes that could have prevented major damage, Congress was told last week.

Meanwhile, an insurance trade group today suggested that federal aid was in order for states that beef up their codes.

The congressional testimony came from Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, in support for her concurrent resolution which calls for the affected states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to "adopt comprehensive, modern and uniform statewide building codes."

A concurrent resolution does not carry the weight of law but is meant to express the opinion of the federal legislature on a particular issue.

Rep. Schmidt on Thursday told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management that the three states mainly affected by Katrina are the only states routinely hit by major storms without comprehensive building codes.

"Today's building technology can be used to withstand Category 3 storms. Florida and Texas have been leaders in this area," she said. "The citizens of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana deserve better protection from these storms. Our nation's taxpayers deserve better protection from future storms."

The resolution calls for the new building codes for construction and maintenance of buildings as an effort to mitigate the potential damage of future disasters and increase public safety.

The new building standards Rep. Schmidt proposed in the resolution should be at a minimum as comprehensive as those developed by the International Code Council.

According to Rep. Schmidt, the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center has estimated that of the $10 billion in damage to homes in Louisiana, modern building codes would have spared 80 percent of the damage.

"Of the $10 billion in damage to homes in Louisiana, over $8 billion would have been saved had modern building codes been in place," she said. "The taxpayers deserve protection from the next storm. Lives, homes and a lot of money could have been spared."

Mitigation efforts have taken on an increasingly important role in recent years, as several major storms have hit the U.S. and Congress has enacted legislation reforming the National Flood Insurance Program.

Under legislation passed last year, owners of repeatedly flooded properties will be required to accept grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make changes to their properties, move structures or relocate entirely. Those who decline these grants would instead face the prospect of paying actuarially determined rates for their flood coverage.

The proposal for federal aid to states that upgrade codes came from the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

The group proposed that Louisiana state legislators and the Louisiana congressional delegation encourage Congress to provide short-term federal assistance to states that enact tougher building standards so that those states can administer and enforce the enhanced codes.

PCI urged Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to publicly ask Congress and President Bush to set aside federal monies for Louisiana for the enforcement mechanism when the state's building code proposal is passed on a state level.

PCI suggested that Louisiana's code improvement efforts be coordinated with the Mississippi and Alabama governors, in order to more firmly cement the position.

PCI called for a program with participating states receiving financial assistance for enforcing wind and flood building requirements and for establishing a state building commission to ensure local compliance with a statewide building code.

It also suggested enhanced direct federal post-disaster grants be made available to consumers to offset a share of the added costs when rebuilding to more stringent code requirements of those states participating in the program.

Special Reports /

Congresswoman Urges Code Upgrade For Storm Zones

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