73% Fewer Claims. Same Storm. Same Street.

In 2020, Hurricane Sally hit more than 40,000 insured homes on the Alabama Gulf Coast. A peer-reviewed study commissioned by the Alabama Department of Insurance documented exactly what happened to FORTIFIED homes versus conventional ones. The results validated everything the FORTIFIED program was designed to deliver.
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What the Data Showed

73%

Fewer claims filed by FORTIFIED Roof homes compared to conventional homes in the same wind conditions

23%

of homes. 9% of claims. FORTIFIED homes' share of policies vs. their share of total claims after Sally

$140M

Estimated reduction in total storm losses if all conventional homes in the study area had been FORTIFIED Roof

About the Study -- and Why It Matters Here

This is not a manufacturer's claim or a lab simulation. The study was conducted by the Center for Risk and Insurance Research at the University of Alabama, commissioned by the Alabama Department of Insurance, and published in May 2025 after independent peer review. Eighty-six insurance companies provided claims data. It is the first empirical study of FORTIFIED construction performance in an actual hurricane.

Hurricane Sally made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama in September 2020 as a strong Category 2 storm with 105 mph sustained winds. It was the first hurricane to strike a significant number of FORTIFIED-designated homes, which made it the first real opportunity to measure how the standard performs outside a laboratory.

The study was conducted in Alabama. The FORTIFIED standard is identical in Louisiana. The same construction requirements, the same evaluator verification process, the same IBHS certification. A FORTIFIED home in New Orleans is built to the same specification as one in Gulf Shores. What happened in Alabama after Sally is the best available evidence for what FORTIFIED homes on the Louisiana Gulf Coast can expect.

Read the Study. Then Let's Talk About Your Home.

The full report is 33 pages and includes the methodology, all data tables, and the researchers' conclusions. If you want the evidence, it is all there.

If you have already seen enough and want to know what FORTIFIED would mean for your home specifically, we are ready for that conversation too.

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