Gulfport, MS Hurricane Preparedness: Hurricane Shutters (2026)

2(1) of the adopted International Residential Code, 'Climatic and Design Criteria,' by inserting Gulfport's own values into the table rather than leaving the state default. The city set the basic design wind speed at 124 miles per hour and designated the entire city as Windborne Debris Zone 1, with no special wind region and no topographic effects. The same table sets the frost line depth at twelve inches, rates termite hazard as very heavy, and lists the effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps as those dated June 16, 2009 and December 21, 2017.

Under the residential code's wind-borne debris provisions, a Zone 1 designation combined with a wind speed this high is what triggers the requirement that exterior glazed openings in the lower portion of a home either carry impact-resistant glazing or be protected by wind-borne-debris-rated shutters, rather than relying on the code's non-impact alternative that applies only outside a debris zone. Gulfport backs this design criteria with a second locally adopted standard: Section 3-34 adopts the ICC 600, Standard for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions, 2014 edition, as the city's prescriptive standard for wind-resistant residential construction, repealing the earlier 2008-edition adoption.

Both amendments were most recently updated by Ordinance No. 2957 and Ordinance No. 2968, adopted August 7, 2018, alongside the city's adoption of the 2018 International Residential Code itself.