Drs. Marc Levitan and Carol Friedland (who recently joined the LSU Construction Management faculty after completing her PhD in CE from LSU ) have a new $28.5K project, in collaboration with AIR-Worldwide,  to assist the Mississippi Insurance Department in modeling the costs and benefits of hurricane mitigation measures.  The ultimate goal is to provide estimates of the amount of expected hurricane damage under different storm scenarios and how much it can be reduced through mitigation measures such as installation of impact-resistant shutters, hurricane straps, improved roof deck attachment, etc.  This information can then be used to assist insurers in developing actuarially correct discounts for homes and businesses that have taken steps to improve the wind hazard resistance of their buildings. Several CEE undergraduate and graduate students assisted with field data collection and analysis of building construction types, methods, and materials for coastal Mississippi, including Stuart Adams, Josh Porter, Blain Fuselier, and Alex Herbin