Original Story Posted: May 03, 2016 2:15 PM CDT Updated: May 03, 2016 2:15 PM CDT
By Steve Alexander, FOX10 News Reporter
Foley, AL (WALA) FOX10 News is committed to helping protect you when disaster strikes.
A Community Preparedness Expo was held in Foley Tuesday to tell you how you can get help in case of weather or fire damage to your home.
Topics ranging from the danger of high voltage lines, to protecting your home, were covered at the Expo.
The Expo is part of an effort by the City of Foley to begin a community rating system program to help reduce flood risks and thus lower flood insurance premium rates.
Foley Chief Building Inspector Chuck Lay said, "Every foot you raise a house, it's a dramatic reduction in flood insurance."
One organization at the Expo offering advice was Smart Home America http://www.smarthomeamerica.org/, a not-for-profit group advocating stronger building codes and methods.
Graham Green said the most vulnerable part of any building is the roof and advised homeowners to make sure their homes are part of what's called the "fortified" home program.
Green said, "The roof deck must be re-nailed with what are called ring shank nails, which provide two times the strength of a regular nail to resist wind ripping your roof off. You have a water barrier. Water is the largest claim after a hurricane or storm. That water intrusion just gets in and ruins everything, so putting a water barrier underneath your shingles prevents that when your shingles fly off in a wind event."
Green said homes in the "fortified" program receive a discount of 35 to 50 percent off their wind insurance premiums.
Preparing for hurricanes is why many people came to the Expo.
John Sanders of Summerdale said, "We want to see what we can do to protect our houses and everything we have back home."
Sarah Waters of Foley said, "Wind, insurance, hurricane preparedness: because we haven't had one in ten years and I feel like we're probably due."