In the Tallahassee Democrat version we are reminded that, "Florida's 2001 statewide hurricane building codes require impact-resistant glass or shutters" everywhere in the state except Northwest Florida. Here in the Panhandle, from Franklin County to the Alabama state line, the so-called 'statewide' standards carve out a huge exception for everything more than one mile from the coast:
Sen. Charlie Clary, R-Destin, fought on behalf of the Florida Home Builders Association to secure the exemption.That's a "hard sell" after hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina, as the Tallahassee version of Ms. St. John's report points out.
Governor Jeb Bush isn't buying it. The insurance industry isn't buying it. And "FEMA damage investigators who studied Ivan's damage in the region" aren't buying it. "The lack of a FBC [Florida Building Code] windborne debris region in the Florida Panhandle does not appear to be justified," FEMA building inspectors concluded in "the agency's detailed assessment of Ivan's impact on local construction."
In the Pensacola News Journal version of what started out as the very same Paige St. John article, we learn that the home builders' lobby has ginned up "new computer models" that purportedly show "inland winds aren't as strong as once believed." Apparently, the builder's lobby selected a software 'modeling' solution that they think shows "the exemption should continue" for Northwest Florida counties.
What's odd is that the PNJ version omits a choice quote from notorious builders' lobbyist Dan Gilmore. Referring to the real world damage wrought here by Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina, he says (in the Tallahassee newspaper version) :
"Was anybody put in harm's way by the exemption? The facts say, no they weren't."To which a lot of people around the Panhandle would say (if the News Journal had carried the quote) "Whaaaaaa?"
Well, sure. Who you gonna believe? Dan Gilmore or your lyin' eyes?"
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