...certainly had damage at a lot of shelters, and most of them were school buildings," says Malcolm Thomas, an Escambia County School Board official. In Greensboro, Ala., about 160 miles north of the coast, the storm peeled a metal roof from a National Guard Armory with about 100 people inside. No injuries were reported.

Stricter Codes?
In the first days of post-Ivan cleanup, some Florida politicians suggested reviewing state and local building codes to include new provisions covering schools, hospitals and hospices. But they also agreed that the codes had performed well because new structures seemed the least damaged. The Florida Building Code is considered the most strict when it comes to hurricanes and was strengthened, after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, with new provisions added in 2002.

Charles Clary, an architect and state legislator, whose dis-trict is in the Florida Panhandle, says most damage was sustained by older structures built before recent codes were adopted. "The way the code is now makes very good sense," he says. Clary stands by building code provisions for the Florida Panhandle that exempt many structures there from some of the state's toughest provisions for withstanding wind-borne debris.

Although the code needs tweaking every year, some officials say procedures used by the Florida Building Commission need to be preserved because they balance special interests. Click here for story - Building Codes In Balance

While Ivan's storm surge was impressive, as far as the wind was concerned "most of what people saw was a Category 1 hurricane," says Timothy Reinhold, a wind engineer with the Tampa-based Institute for Business & Home Safety. Click here for story - Ivan's Winds Didn't Pack The Punch...

But regardless, some building facades took heavy beatings in the series of hurricanes. Bill Pinto, president of Hardin Construction, Atlanta, says he has seen many photos showing severe damage to exterior facade systems on metal studs, including the Marriott Hotel in downtown Orlando, which lost the facade on the east wall of one tower. Click here for Long Term Impact

Already stretched by its role in Iraq, the Corps of Engineers was further taxed by the three-hurricane emergency response, its most complex operation ever, says Jack Hurdle, disaster program manager in Washington. "We've used about 95% of our team leaders and planning response people for these three storms.'' U.S. Seabees were deployed to assist with recovery around Pensacola where damage at three nearby bases could exceed $100 million. Click here for story - Military Maneuvers

Agencies and firms continue to pour in resources. LVI Group, a New York City-based cleanup and abatement contractor, says it has deployed more than 900 staffers from across the country particularly to combat the intense risk of mold contamination.

At least 12 engineering firms are supporting a Federal Emergency Management Agency probe into the structural impacts of Hurricane Charley with a final report due out in early November. Among other things, it will reveal more performance flaws in tile roofs and steel enclosures than experts anticipated. A post-Ivan study is likely to follow, sources say.

NOAA's Goldenberg warns that the current responses won't be enough for the risks ahead. "To me this season has been no surprise at all," he says. Click here for story - Science Raises Alarms

During the recent lull in strong storm action, "the coast built up...the population increase has been massive." It's not just population, Goldenberg says, but heights of buildings. "There are large wind peaks where hurricanes can be one or two categories stronger 300 to 400 feet in the air." The NOAA researcher believes hurricane engineering needs more attention and funding. "So many research dollars are directed to earthquakes, but they are responsible for far less death and destruction than hurricanes, which average $5 billion a year, especially during these active cycles," Goldenberg says. "The issue is that any building, with proper design, can be made more hurricane resistant. And sometimes it doesn't take a lot of extra bucks to do it."