内容摘要：A Heli-Hydrant, a small, open tank that helicopters can rely on to get water faster for urban fires, fills with water during a demonstration Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jurupa Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

A Heli-Hydrant, a small, open tank that helicopters can rely on to get water faster for urban fires, fills with water during a demonstration Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Jurupa Valley, Calif. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

“It really does start to bring home that there is value for everybody involved,” said Malik. “There’s value for the insurers, there’s value for the homeowner.”Fortified doesn’t address all types of hurricane losses. Nearly half the claims in the study were from fallen trees, which require separate mitigation strategies.

The enhanced standards do add cost: between 0.5% to 3% more for new construction, and 6% to 16% for retrofits. But the longterm benefits have spurred even disaster recovery nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, Team Rubicon and SBP to use Fortified, often with the philanthropic support of insurers like Travelers and Allstate.“Helping disaster-impacted homeowners build back smarter with storm-resilient construction and IBHS Fortified standards helps break the cycle of disaster and loss,” said Thomas Corley, chief operating officer at the New Orleans-based nonprofit SBP, which has built 671 homes to Fortified standards in nine states.The potential insurance discounts also help recovering families by lowering their monthly expenses and boosting confidence that they can keep affording their homes. “For low-income families, this could mean the difference between upward mobility or years of financial instability after a disaster,” said Corley.

Alabama is expanding its grant program to three new counties this year. Fowler said he hopes the results encourage more insurance companies to offer wind protection on coastal homes, and that adoption will spread to less hurricane-prone areas still susceptible toThe approach has caught the attention of other states seeking resilience solutions. Fowler spoke before a California legislative committee last month in support of the

, a proposed bill that would fund grants for fire-safe roofing and defensible space to protect from wildfires.

“Natural disasters like windstorms, earthquakes, or wildfires will come no matter what we do,” he told the committee. “That means you must find ways to build stronger before the event so you will have less damage after the event. It’s actually a pretty simple concept.”. The law stipulates that the government can’t “substantially burden” someone’s constitutional right to freedom of religion unless it can prove there is a “compelling interest” to restrict that right.

Morrisey has said that law hasn’t “been fully and properly enforced” since it passed.The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Dr. Joshua Hess of Cabell County and Marisa Jackson of Kanawha County. It said Hess has a child who is immunocompromised and that Jackson has a child who, because of decreased community use of immunizations, is more susceptible to illness.

Along with Mississippi, West Virginia is the U.S. state with the worst health outcomes and lowest life expectancy rates.“Parents should be able to know their child will be safe when they send them off to school,” said Mountain State Justice executive director Sarah Brown. “We are seeing the devastating effects of loosening vaccine requirements across the country, and that’s why the Legislature wisely declined to loosen the restrictions here in West Virginia. It’s vital that their decision not be undermined by the executive branch.”