On a mission to educate homeowners about high-wind retrofits. Like most lifelong residents of the Gulf Coast, Simpson Strong-Tie employee Cheryl Zafiris has a long personal history with hurricanes. Hers started right after she was born.
On October 10, Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Florida Panhandle with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Having already wrought havoc across Central America, the Category 4 storm became the third most powerful hurricane (in terms of minimum central pressure, a key indicator of strength) ever to hit the contiguous United States. By the time the storm finally cleared, it had tragically claimed 60 lives and some $11.28 billion in damages.