Why did roofs fail in Hawaii during a weak Cat 1 hurricane like Lala?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

The eye wall of Lala never even hit Hawaii, and Lala was only a 75mph Cat 1 at closest approach, but I've seen videos of roofs blown off homes and apartments in Hawaii on the Big Island.

Do these structures lack basic hurricane straps and kicker braces on their roofs? I mean following Andrew on the mainland and Iniki in Hawaii in 1992, there was supposed to be building code upgrades to withstand category 4 and 5 winds. A 75mph sustained wind with a gust of perhaps 100mph straight line winds is not supposed to blow your roof clean off the house if you have proper bracing in the roof. It makes no sense. This was supposed to be an inland flooding concern due to 40 inches of rain, and it was, but why do these idiots not have basic codes on their rooftops 34 years after Andrew and Iniki even happened?

And yes, you should still evacuate within 5 miles of the coast even for a Cat 1, because you never know what will happen, in spite of statistical averages. Water is traditionally by far the biggest life-threatening event with a hurricane.

[msc545]

Building contractors build cheap so they can put more money in their pockets. This is a well-known phenomenon throughout the world and I don't think Hawaii is any exception. Additionally, building inspectors are known to favor cash gratuities to overlook certain defects in construction. I would not be surprised if that also is part of what happened here. What I am surprised about is your surprise at this. This happens all over the world and particularly in the United States.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Yeah, I saw on the world news. They had ceiling joists on 3foot center and the rafters on 4foot center. This is no good in a hurricane, even if the eyewall misses you. Very shitty construction.

[msc545]

No surprise there. They pay off building inspectors to get away with it. They do that here in California too. I wound up suing the builder and the city of my last house for illegal grading and and it turned out the city had bribed the city building inspector to allow the grading. I got quite a bit of money but that is exactly what it cost to fix my property. It was a miserable experience.

[msc545]

Sorry the contractor hit bribed the building inspector.