MEXICO BEACH, Fla. — This hurricane season, builders in some parts of Florida face stricter building codes, thanks to lessons learned from Hurricane Michael.
- Building codes changing due to lessons learned from Michael
- Panhandle homes were only required to withstand 130 mph winds
- Florida Building Commission considering changing codes statewide
Many structures in the Panhandle were not ready for Hurricane Michael’s historically destructive power.
Jack Sebastiao now spends much of his time sifting and separating the debris from what’s left of his Mexico Beach home, including chunks of glass still scattered all over.
“The Mexico Beach diamonds,” is what Sebastiao called them.
The home was where Sebastiao and his wife were supposed to spend their retirement. But two months after they bought the home, Hurricane Michael destroyed it. They now live in a FEMA trailer.
Unlike in South Florida, where new homes are required to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, homes in the Mexico Beach and Panama City area were only required to withstand 130 mph winds when Michael hit in October 2018. Michael’s winds reached as high as 160.
The Florida Building Commission is now studying the damage and considering changes building code requirements across the state.
The Sebastiaos say they’ll continue making the most of what they have while they wait for their new home, and the community that once surrounded it, to come back.
“I’m trying to stay busy so I can take my mind off things I can’t control,” said Jack Sebastiao. “It will come back one day. It always does.”