TRENTON, N.J. — A free online resource is available to New Jerseyans where they can learn about measures that can limit or eliminate damage to their homes during severe weather events.

“Improving Connections in Elevated Coastal Residential Buildings” at Region2Coastal.com describes how New Jerseyans can make their homes stronger during floods and high winds by strengthening the floor-to-pile foundation connections.

Connections are responsible for attaching an elevated level of a structure to its foundation. During Hurricane Sandy, many New Jersey homes were damaged or destroyed because the floor-to-pile connections were weak. Flood waters exceeded the capacity of the connections and homes were pushed off their foundations.

The document describes how strengthening connections can reduce the likelihood of a structure separating from its foundation. Strong floor-to-pile connections minimize the chances of this happening during floods and strong winds.

Floor-to-pile connections in coastal homes are susceptible to corrosion. Homeowners can learn in the document how to reduce the chances of this happening.                                                                                            

New Jerseyans should contact their local emergency management office if they have questions about mitigation techniques for their home.

For more information, visit Region2coastal.com or FEMA.gov/building-science-publications.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Follow FEMA online at www.fema.gov/blog, www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema. Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate’s activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema. 

The social media links provided are for reference only. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.