Over the past two hurricane seasons, Florida has weathered the impact of eight major storms that have caused billions of dollars in losses and left untold numbers of citizens coping with damaged homes and the dislocation that comes in the aftermath of a major storm. Hurricanes Jeanne, Charley, Frances, and Ivan alone caused damage to one out of every five homes in the state. And the experts all agree that Florida is likely to see similar hurricane seasons for some years to come.

However, in contrast to previous decades, insurers and homeowners are no longer completely at the mercy of storm damage. For among the lessons learned in the last two hurricane seasons is that the tough statewide building codes passed by lawmakers in the 1990s, and the evolution of mitigation techniques, are working to protect property and reducing the dollar amount of damage.

Take for instance the results of a new report by the Tampa-based Institute for Business and Home Safety. The institute is a non-profit organization that focuses on finding and evaluating ways to reduce the property damage, economic losses, and human suffering caused by natural disasters. The IBHS report focused on assessing the performance of the new building codes. Included in the findings was this startling fact: In the aftermath of Hurricane Charley that struck southwest Florida in August 2002, only 130 demolition permits were pulled in Charlotte County and none of those were for homes built after 1992. In fact, engineers for the safety institute and other experts estimated that the new building codes were responsible for saving at least $40 million in damage in Charlotte County.