As extreme weather becomes more common across the country, a new report from the University of Alabama’s Center for Risk and Insurance finds that fortifying homes makes a big difference.

When Hurricane Sally hit the state in 2020, homes that had been built or retrofitted to stand up better to intense wind and rain fared much better than homes that had not. And it saved insurance companies, and homeowners, millions.

Twenty years ago, Alabama was hit hard by back-to-back hurricanes: Ivan and Katrina. In the aftermath, insurance companies started jacking up rates or leaving altogether.

And when the rebuilding started, “We saw people putting the same old roofs back on those houses, and knew that the next storm was just going to [them] blow off again,” said Alabama Insurance Commissioner Mark Fowler. “And we just knew that we had to do something different.”

The state started offering homeowners grants — and insurance discounts — to make their homes more resilient to wind and rain.

Fred Malik, managing director of the FORTIFIED programs at the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, said this new study found homes built to the nonprofit’s standards were much less likely to sustain hurricane damage and put in costly insurance claims.

“That means lower financial disruption for homeowners, that means faster recovery times,” Malik said.

It also means a more stable insurance market, said Commissioner Fowler.

“When you have less damage and less claims, now you have more insurable homes and it results in lower rates,” he said.

Fowler said that benefits homeowners, and the state’s economy.