Houston Chronicle, May 30, 2006, by Kevin Moran

GALVESTON - People from around the nation are snapping up homes and condominiums along Galveston County's coast at a record pace these days despite the scares delivered last year by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Oh, sure, the pair of storms probably gave pause to some would-be property owners. And a slight boost in interest rates could cause a hiccup in the booming Texas coastal real estate market.But sellers say they're not worried. Buyers are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for lots in new subdivisions in Galveston and on the Bolivar Peninsula. They're anteing up record sums for resort homes and bidding up prices on older, fix-up houses to levels few would have dreamed possible less than a decade ago, real estate agents say.Janet
and Bill Alongi, who now live in Loma Linda, Calif., plan to be Galveston residents by July."We can't wait to get there, sit out on our deck and have our first martini," Janet Alongi, a Houston native, said of herself and husband, Bill, a retired firefighter.The couple plunked down a bundle of money for a 20-year-old home a block off the beach in the Pirates' Beach subdivision on west Galveston Island. Her family still lives in Texas, and California ties have dwindled, prompting the Alongis' decision to move permanently to Galveston."I grew up dodging hurricanes and tornadoes," Janet Alongi said, noting that Californians get no warnings of earthquakes.California's beaches, she said, are very different from those in Texas. "They're crammed full of people, very congested, lots of rocks."After Rita and Katrina last year and a disastrous 2004 hurricane season in Florida, the obvious question is: Why do buyers keep pumping billions of dollars annually into U.S. coastal properties that could be damaged or even obliterated if the right storm comes along?"Water, water, water," said Barbara Frink, of Sand 'n Sea Properties Inc. "People just have an absolute love of being on the water. " Stricter building codes
No structure is hurricane-proof, but building codes on Galveston Island, the Bolivar Peninsula and elsewhere along the Texas coast are comparable to those in most U.S. coastal areas. For instance, homes built near Texas' coastline after 1988 must have hurricane straps and clips that help hold the structures together in high winds."A house has to be anchored together from the foundation to the roof in one continuous series of ties," said Galveston building official David Ewald.Some contractors resisted the tougher rules because they increased the cost of building homes. But, said Ewald, "no one complains anymore. They know what's needed."

Since 2003, homes built seaward of Texas' Intracoastal Waterway have had to withstand wind gusts of 130 mph for three seconds to qualify for windstorm protection under the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. New homes up to 20 miles inland from the waterway must weather three-second gusts up to 120 mph, and new homes farther inland must be built to withstand three-second, 110-mph gusts.

Coastal properties in Texas are subject to the state's Open Beaches Act, which requires owners to move or lose their homes if storm erosion leaves them on the public beach, the area seaward of the natural vegetation line.