After Michael, A Call For Stricter Building Codes In Florida Panhandle

"In Mexico Beach, Fla., Lance Erwin is one of the lucky ones. His house is still standing. He stayed in his home during Hurricane Michael, several blocks from the beach, in a part of his house that he calls his "safe room."

"The garage door was shaking," he says. "I knew the roof was gone at that point because everything was shaking. I thought, 'Just hang in there.' I had faith everything was going to be OK."

Florida has some of the nation's toughest building codes. But in the Panhandle, you wouldn't know it. The rules are looser there — allowing construction that couldn't stand up to Michael's 155 mph winds."
 
Greg Allen reports for NPR October 17, 2018.

Source: NPR, 10/18/2018