[dramatic music] - [Rossie] This is what it looks like when engineers study disaster.

- We break things, we set things on fire, we throw hail.

We do all of that destructive testing, so we can find the right nuggets.

- [Rossie] I'm at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, or IBHS.

Yeah, it's a mouthful, but it's essentially a nonprofit that studies how to build better in the face of extreme weather.

That's a task that's only getting harder as we face more intense hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes because of a warming climate.

All those threats get simulated here in this massive warehouse.

This is where the magic happens.

- Oh yeah.

This is definitely where the magic happens.

I love this space because it's very analogous to a musical instrument.

And so behind us, are the fans.

There's 105 individual fans.

Each one is slightly taller than me.

And a 350 horsepower motor.

The things that look like airplane wings that are behind us, those move back and forth, and they move in a couple of different groups.

We have to produce the gustiness of the wind.

If I simply blow the wind steady, I'm not doing what Mother Nature does every single day.

That gustiness of the wind is what really attacks our building materials and structures.

- [Rossie] The engineering required to realistically simulate weather is complicated, but the solutions that actually protect buildings can be really simple.

Let's take threat number one, stronger hurricane winds.

During a hurricane, winds can literally peel the roof off a house.

That's because the roof isn't well connected to the walls.

And when the wind gets in through a door or a window, it can just pop the roof right off.

- The key is connecting them together, so that they can perform as a system.

First story and second story walls have to be connected well and then the walls have to be connected down to the foundation.

If you simply set the building on the foundation, and you don't use anchor bolts or strap it down into the foundation properly, it's just sitting on a slider.

- [Rossie] The same goes for garage doors, which can be the most vulnerable part of the house.

- Garage doors are fascinating.

Many people have one.

And it is the largest single opening on a structure.

When the wind blows and that garage door buckles or allows wind in, now you have almost like a balloon.

You're blowing into the balloon and the pressure is increasing inside the house.

Makes it much easier to tear off the walls and the roof and whatnot when you have that amazing amount of wind trying to get in.

- [Rossie] Again, the solutions to these problems are deceptively simple, more nails or straps connecting a house's layers together, or a strong garage door that has a high wind rating.

But often it's on individual homeowners and builders to know how important these measures are before it's too late.

[wind blows] And that brings us to threat number two, torrential rain.

- So we have typical construction over here on your side, and we have fortified, more resilient construction on this side.

- [Rossie] The typical construction has basic water-resistant paper tacked down with staples, but the fortified version goes a bit further.

- This one has these nice bright green button caps, which give it more bite.

It stays on a lot better and this is a thicker material.

- [Rossie] Watch what happens when "Hurricane Rossie" rips off the typical construction.

Let's do our best here.

Whoa, that came off so easily.

That's ridiculous.

And the fortified construction.

I can't do it.

- It's a lot harder.

Yes, I'll help you with, ooh, we're pulling it.

- [Rossie] The other difference is that the seams between the plywood on the fortified version are covered with water-resistant tape, which prevents water from dumping straight into the house if the shingles are ripped off.

This is the type of information the team wants out in the world, ideally embedded in building codes, which dictate the standards buildings have to meet in specific communities.

Only 32% of counties in the US have adopted the hazard resistant building codes that are recommended by FEMA.

That's the green you see here on this map.

And many counties don't even have a building code at all.

The result is a wildly diverse landscape of construction styles depending on the builder and the location.

Plus, a warming climate means new threats in new places, including wildfire.

[energetic music] Because droughts are becoming more severe and more widespread, the wildfires that used to be seen only out West now pose a bigger threat across the country.

Wildfire is the most dramatic thing to simulate, and the team generally has the fire department on hand in case things get out of control.

- The science of wildfire is all about preventing ignition.

Mother Nature's gonna make it.

The wildland has to catch on fire in many places for the healthy ecosystem.

It just has to.

What we want to do is keep that wildland fire from igniting the suburb.

- [Rossie] The team recommends a non non-flammable roof, mesh over the vents in your roof to prevent embers from sneaking inside, and a wide bare perimeter around the house, so that means no pretty bushes lining your foundation.

- It looks beautiful right up until it catches fire, and burns and takes down your house, so take those beautiful bushes and move them out away, maybe towards the back fence where you can see them from your window.

But bushes right next to your house are little green gas cans.

- [Rossie] Information like this has become vital as home insurance premiums spike across the country and it gets harder and harder to ensure homes in high-risk areas.

- Mother Nature's telling us that things are different than they were before and we have the engineering solutions to make the homes and the communities more resilient, and we can do it.