building codes News

Hawaii Could See a Big Hurricane Season, but Most Homes Aren’t Ready

HONOLULU (AP) — Jan Pappas and Ronald Yasuda hired a contractor to fasten the roof of their 1960s-era home to their walls with metal plates and nails so high winds of a potential hurricane wouldn`t blow it away. Their motivation? …

New Lawsuit Filed, Iowa Gov. Asks White House for Help After Partial Building Collapse

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A woman whose leg was amputated in order to free her from the rubble of the partially collapsed building in Davenport, Iowa, filed a lawsuit with her wife Wednesday, accusing the city and the building’s …

Andrew Upended Fla. Insurance Market, but Storm of Litigation Even Worse

It was 30 years ago that Hurricane Andrew, the strongest storm to make U.S. landfall in more than two decades, gouged its way across south Florida, destroying more than 25,000 homes, by some estimates, and causing more than $15 billion …

3 Missing in Gas Explosion in Major North China Port City

BEIJING (AP) — A gas explosion after a partial building collapse in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin on Tuesday morning left three people missing and 11 injured. The incident remains under investigation, but it appears to point to …

Wildfire Threat Becomes Tool to Fight Home Builders

Preston Brown knows the risk of wildfire that comes with living in the rural, chaparral-lined hills of San Diego County. He’s lived there for 21 years and evacuated twice. That’s why he fiercely opposed a plan to build more than …

Here’s how the Government Wants to Disaster-Proof your Home

MIAMI (AP) — On this first day of the Atlantic hurricane season, federal officials are launching a new initiative to modernize building codes so that communities can be more resilient to hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events that …

Safety Doors Failed in NYC High-Rise Fire That Killed 17

NEW YORK (AP)–Investigators sought answers Monday for why safety doors failed to close when fire broke out in a New York high-rise, allowing thick smoke to rise through the tower and kill 17 people, including eight children, in the city’s …

Amazon Warehouse Collapse Has Illinois Looking at Building Codes

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Monday questioned whether building codes need updating to counter risks from an increasing number of severe storms as investigators parse through reasons for the fatal collapse of an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in the state late …

Cladding Questions Arise in Milan’s 20-Story Building Blaze

MILAN (AP) — Italian firefighters tackled hot spots Monday in a 20-story apartment building in Milan that was destroyed by fire but said there were no indications that anyone was missing inside, as questions arose about the cladding that witnesses …

California AG Challenges Housing Plans in Wildfire Areas

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s attorney general is challenging some of the state’s largest suburban development projects as local officials weigh the risk of increasingly devastating wildfires against the state’s dire need for more housing. Attorney General Xavier Becerra on …