Could updated building codes reduce risks from future storms? Some experts say yes

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, two feet of rain fell on western North Carolina, damaging or sweeping away thousands of houses in landslides and floods. At least 101 people died.

In many cases, nothing could have prevented the destruction. But some damage could have been lessened with modern, strict building codes, according to some engineers and building code experts.

Lawmakers and developers have repeatedly resisted updating building codes in recent years, said Kim Wooten, an engineer who sits on the State Building Code Council, which proposes building code updates.

"The General Assembly and the North Carolina Home Builders Association have rewritten laws and rewritten the code that affect how a home is built and inspected," Wooten said.

If updated codes were adopted, they could help reduce the risk from future storms. For example, Wooten said, stricter rules for inspections could prevent the use of poor construction methods and materials that leave homes vulnerable to high winds. And requiring higher elevations in floodplains could reduce damage during floods, she said.

The North Carolina Home Builders Association exerts huge influence on both the Building Code Council and the Republican-controlled state legislature, which has blocked some efforts to tighten regulations. North Carolina's home building industry is a major donor to lawmakers, some of whom are themselves home builders.

"Unfortunately, it's ‘Follow the money,’” said Ben Edwards, an Asheville-based consultant who has helped draft both North Carolina and national building codes. He said it’s unfortunate that a $10,000 or $50,000 campaign contribution “can lead to a $500 million disaster for a community."

Communities across western North Carolina were left without electricity by the storm. Water systems failed. And some small downtowns were washed away. Analysts say losses could reach well into the billions of dollars across Helene's path. CoreLogic, a property analytics company, estimates flood and wind losses at between $30.5 and $47.5 billion. Moody's Analytics put losses at $20 billion to $34 billion.

Years of blocked efforts

The homebuilding industry argues that too much regulation drives up the cost of homes and could price out some buyers. Tim Minton, executive vice president and a top lobbyist with the North Carolina Home Builders Association, said his group looks at two factors regarding code updates.

"One is affordability in terms of what those codes are going to cost. (Two,) if it's a life or safety issue, that is sort of put in its own category by itself," he said.

"We're always making sure when there are code changes or code reviews that these things fit what makes sense for North Carolina," Minton added.

But emails show that the Home Builders Association has helped to write and revise legislation.

In 2023, the General Assembly delayed a broad review of state codes until 2031. Lawmakers also blocked another new rule that would have required exterior sheathing inspections of new homes in high-wind zones. Sheathing is the layer, usually plywood, that strengthens a home's structure underneath siding or roofing.

The same bill also reorganized the State Building Code Council to favor home builders and took away some appointment power from Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat.

Emails obtained through a public records request show that Home Builders Association officials spent months writing and rewriting the 2023 bill with lawmakers and, in some cases, directly with legislative staff.

In one typical exchange, a builders association staff member, Cliff Isaac, emailed the bill's House of Representatives sponsor and legislative staff: "We have reviewed the bill. Please make the following changes we believe are essential." The message lists pages and line numbers with specific new language.

In another email, a legislative staff lawyer asked the builders' lobbyist if the bill was ready to send to committee chairs. In other emails, the builders offered edits on the legislation.

Not the only time

The home building industry has a history of blocking or slowing efforts to limit home construction on steep slopes, according to Wooten and Democratic state Rep. Pricey Harrison. That included multiple versions of the proposed Safe Artificial Slope Construction Act in 2007 and 2009, which, among other things, would have required local governments to regulate construction on steep slopes and required disclosures of landslide risks.

Minton said the association has opposed statewide rules for steep slope construction because local communities can pass their own ordinances. But Harrison said that when it comes to steep slopes, those local ordinances "are not uniform at all, and there are many western counties that don't have it."

Harrison and Wooten both said the real estate industry has also lobbied against efforts to improve floodplain building rules and lobbied for weakening wetlands protections, leaving wetlands more vulnerable to runoff and flooding.

In 2013, the industry also successfully fought to update codes every six years instead of every three, which many other states require, according to Harrison and environmental lobbyists, including Brooks Rainey Pearson with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Then, in 2023, came the delay of reviewing state codes until 2031 and taking appointment power away from the governor.

The North Carolina Home Builders PAC (political action committee) has given more than $1.5 million to candidates and political committees over the past decade.

Wooten said modern standards, especially for energy efficiency, would also address the broader problem of human-caused climate change, which is fueling more intense and damaging storms, including Helene.

"If we could minimize, or begin to minimize, the amount of emissions that are contributing to climate change, there's a chance that the world will see some reduction in these extreme weather events," Wooten said.

There's another downside to the building code fight: The governor's office estimates that by failing to update codes, North Carolina, so far, has missed out on at least $70 million in federal recovery aid. The governor's office said in July that North Carolina expects to receive just $30 million this year through FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, down from $102 million last year.

A nationwide issue

The fight over building codes and the consequences go beyond North Carolina. In fact, nearly half of all states have similar issues.

"The assault on safe, sane building codes is going on around the country,” Wooten explained. “It's an assault by the National Association of Home Builders, and they're working through independent code councils."

She said the industry has too much influence on how building codes are written.

Other states, such as Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, are also missing out on federal funds because of outdated building codes, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Minton said it's "misinformation" to say that North Carolina's building code can't be updated when needed.

"It's very clear in the statute, every time the Code Council meets, anyone can go to the council and request a code change," Minton said.

But Wooten and Edwards say that in practice, the building industry and its allies typically stonewall any updates they don't like, either at the code council or the legislature.

The chief lobbyist for the Home Builders Association, Chris Millis, disputed many of the criticisms about North Carolina's building rules in an Oct. 17 op-ed in the Carolina Journal, a statewide conservative publication.

Known risks

State officials have known for years about climate risks in western North Carolina. A 2018 state government climate assessment warned of the potential for flash flooding and landslides in the region. In 2021, flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Fred killed six people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of structures.

North Carolina's statewide building code pre-dates those red flags, though some communities have adopted stricter local requirements. Edwards said he opposes pushing those responsibilities to the local level.

"North Carolina has chosen to decentralize a lot of these decisions about health and life safety, and in reality, that decentralization is a deregulation," Edwards said.

Helene was the most devastating storm in western North Carolina in a century, even though it had been downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit the region. The heavy rain led to severe flooding and damage in mountain communities like Asheville, Swannanoa, Spruce Pine, and Marshall.

Experts compare Helene to the Great Flood of 1916, which followed back-to-back hurricanes in western North Carolina. More than two feet of rain led to widespread flooding and dozens of landslides, which accounted for many of the estimated several dozen deaths from the storms.

Build back differently 

Geologist Rob Young of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, about 50 miles west of Asheville, said historically, people settled along the rivers and hillsides, making Helene's damage mostly unavoidable. Western North Carolina and the southern Appalachian Mountains are largely steep valleys with little flat land.

Mills, roads, rail lines, and power plants were all built in flood plains, where land is flat, he explained.

"So much of the infrastructure in western North Carolina was put into place decades ago for very practical reasons,” Young said. “There's not a whole lot that you can do about that."

The question, he said, is what happens next.

"Right now, those building codes could and would matter as we rebuild in a flood plain or any area that is exposed to high winds," Young said.

It's all about building back smarter, not just in flood plains, but also in steep areas, he explained.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has already identified nearly 2,000  landslides attributable to Helene, most in North Carolina. That includes more than 1,000 that impacted rivers, roads, and structures in river and creek valleys. The total could wind up being greater, said geologist Brad Johnson of Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., who has been aiding the USGS analysis along with his students.

These days, new luxury homes are being built on steep slopes to take advantage of mountain views. In the absence of regulations, Johnson said, there's often not enough attention paid to whether the hillside is stable.

"If you're getting a million-dollar view, you've gotta have a steep slope underneath you somewhere,” Johnson said. “With slope instability, the number one thing you should look at is steepness."

Rob Young puts it this way: Building on steep slopes is a bad idea. “It's a bad idea for that property owner, and it can create some problems down slope," he said. “You can create the increased potential for slope failure when you're putting in roads and things like that and taking trees out."

Wooten said building standards are critical as North Carolina rebuilds. Homes, she said, shouldn’t be built on steep slopes where "homes go tumbling down the mountains with their owners in them. We don't need to be building in 500-year and 1,000-year flood plains where homes are going to float away in a flash flood."

It's unlikely that state building codes will change in time to influence how western North Carolina rebuilds after Helene. Despite that, said Young, "I would hope that our first response isn't just to try and put everything back where it was."

Copyright 2024, NPR

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