Anchorage Weather
Heavy Snowfall Raises Concerns About Collapsing RoofsOriginal Air Date: Jan 12, 2012 Weather emergencies are happening all across the state, and there have been reports of roofs collapsing in Cordova. Many Anchorage residents are wondering if their own homes are in danger. Anchorage building code requires a safe, allowable roof design snowload of at least 40 pounds per square foot, but that's not the case in the outlying regions. There are no established minimum code-required design to handle snow in areas like Girdwood and Eagle River. Snow loads in these areas have been considerably greater, but officials say there is no reliable way to convert depth-of-snow into pounds per square foot of pressure. Light and fluffy snow that has just fallen does not weigh as much as older, wet snow. City officials say some red flags are the depth, character and density of snow on your roof, and whether or not there's been any recent rainfall. Additionally, the age and design of the structure must be considered. Indicators that a roof may be overloaded are visually sagging beams and signs of structural distress in the framing. "If you have a conventionally built home, there's really no cause for concern. Also keep in mind that wind has been blowing, and snow has been blowing off of roofs throughout the winter. So you don't have 81 inches of snow on most of the roofs in town," said Sharen Walsh, Building Official for the Municipality of Anchorage. If you feel your house may be a special case averaging much more snow than most of the homes in Anchorage, you may call Building Safety at 343-8211, by choosing option 4 (Building Code Questions). |
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James Robert said on Sunday, Jan 15 at 12:35 AM
From my experience, flat roofs are the roofs to worry about. While pitched roofs shed during warm up periods, flat roofs retain much of the water (and weight). I have been in cities where hundreds of roofs collapsed and a very high percentage of them were flat roofs. There may not be any collapses happening yet, but if the temperatures stay cold and snow keeps accumulating without any relief, collapses are bound to happen on flat roofs (commercial or residential).
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