Roofing must be properly attached for high-wind survival
FEMA P-2325 §U.S. Virgin Islands Case Study (HPRP)Description
Roof systems in hurricane-prone areas should be detailed and inspected for adequate attachment of decking, underlayment, and covering. Inadequately fastened roofs are the primary point of failure in high-wind events — once the roof leaves the structure the interior becomes a single-story-tall unbraced cantilever.
Why this exists
FEMA's Mitigation Assessment Team observed zero structural roof damage to U.S. Virgin Islands homes retrofitted under the Home Protection Roofing Program (HPRP) when Hurricanes Irma + Maria (2017) struck — despite those storms being more severe than the 1995 Hurricane Marilyn that originally damaged the same building stock.
Categories
Source
Solver enforcement
Browsable only — the solver does not currently enforce this directive (no spec-level data to check against). This entry exists so the architect personas can cite it in conversation and the user can read what the rule says.
Related directives
- Continuous load path from roof to foundation · HUD RSDG §2.4
- Residential structural reliability targets 1-in-100 to 1-in-1000 annual probability of failure · HUD RSDG §2.5
- Residential floor live load: 40 psf minimum (30 psf sleeping rooms) · HUD RSDG §3.4
- Wind load design uses ASCE 7 basic wind speed for the locality · HUD RSDG §3.6
- Ground snow load for Virginia: 25 psf eastern, up to 40 psf western mountains · HUD RSDG §3.7
Last reviewed 2026-05-11.