Following an active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season – which pro- duced 17 named storms, including
10 hurricanes – facilities need to be
prepared. Have a disaster cleanup and
business continuity plan in place before
a hurricane approaches. Determine
what level you want or need your building to function following a disaster.
When Hurricane Maria made landfall
in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, 2017, as
a Category 4 storm, many buildings
weren’t prepared. That’s because
Puerto Rico has different building codes,
standards and enforcement than the
mainland, according to Scott Nacheman,
member of the property loss consulting
team at DeSimone Consulting Engineers.
Local Culture Decides
Code Enforcement
Most recovery efforts are driven
by company culture – or lack thereof,
Nacheman notes. In his experience,
international corporations that have a
presence in hurricane- or disaster-prone
areas have a more proactive resilience
plan in place. In Puerto Rico, buildings
weren’t built to the same standards that
would be found on the mainland.
“Ultimately it comes down to the
local culture and what the building
industry and commercial element in
those parts of the world comply with,”
he says.
In Hurricane Maria recovery efforts
in Puerto Rico, many buildings are
rebuilt to code. Enforcement is difficult
because there aren’t as robust enforcement procedures in U.S. territories as
there are in the states. This could lead
to cutting corners in recovery efforts.
“That might not be noticed until
there’s an extreme event like a storm
and your building doesn’t perform like it
should,” Nacheman says.
A building code is an “absolute
minimum level of performance a build-
ing needs to adhere to,” he explains. “In
most cases it’s not ensuring – or even
suggesting – that your building will
be functional following an event like a
hurricane, tornado or earthquake. It only
means it won’t fail during the event and
people can get out safely.”
Build Beyond for
Business Continuity
Building owners who want to maintain
building continuity have to build beyond
code requirements. Nacheman suggests
owners look at best practices for:
■ Building structure
■ Building envelope
■ Life safety systems
That way building owners and facility
managers can maintain business continu-
ity after an incident, he says. “Owners
and operators need to be willing to invest
in a more robust and resilient building
to withstand greater forces to recover
from loss of service” if they would like to
maintain operations following a hurricane
or other disaster.
Building owners and facility managers
should determine initial priorities (e.g.
keep the building dry, begin operation
again, etc.) if disaster cleanup is necessary. Going to a performance-based
design approach would allow for better
performance of buildings after incidents,
Nacheman suggests.
“Looking at the use and systems of the
building would tell how systems would
work and interact or not interact after an
incident,” he says. He suggests moving
away from the prescriptive methods
that most building codes entail toward
performance-based requirements similar
to those that found in seismic design and
other life safety systems.
Dry the Building in
Disaster Cleanup
If a hurricane or other incident has
occurred and disaster cleanup is necessary, owners and managers need to first
focus on restoration of the building envelope and utilities. “If you can’t get the
building closed in and drying, the damage
to your building will grow exponentially
over time,” Nacheman says. To get up and
running quicker, he suggests having:
■ A plan for pre-loss preparation to
restore building envelope integrity
■ A system in place to restore power
generation and fuel for the systems
■ Agreements with your insurance
carrier to have an emergency
restoration company available to
perform dry down
For the third point, Nacheman
emphasizes having a discussion with
your insurance broker or carrier ahead of
disaster cleanup about pre-approval of
certain vendors. Get an agreement that
includes what vendors will be used, rates,
level of work based on a given event and
any other details that can be determined
beforehand. All stakeholders should be
aware of expectations before an incident
so the response can move quickly.
The Federal Emergency Management
Agency also suggests the following tips
for facility preparation:
■ Develop a preparedness program to
help identify ways to protect facilities,
physical assets and electronic
information.
■ Create a communications plan to keep
in contact with customers, suppliers
and employees during and after a
storm.
■ Keep copies of important records
such as building plans, insurance
policies, employee contact
information, bank accounts, computer
backups and other priority documents
in a waterproof container. Store a
second set of records at an off-site
location.
Once disaster strikes, access to supplies for disaster cleanup can be difficult.
If the disaster hits an island, as Hurricane
Maria did in Puerto Rico, it adds another
layer of difficulty. It can make it more
difficult to receive materials, find work
crews available on the island or housing
for workers coming from elsewhere.
The logistics are massive in these
cases, adding to delays in and increased
cost of restoration, Nacheman notes.
“If you can maintain utilities, water and
communication, it goes a long way for
allowing personnel to keep working in a
somewhat safe environment,” he says. B
Valerie Dennis Craven valerie.craven
buildings.com is Editor in Chief of
BUILDINGS.
Prepare Your Building for a Hurricane
Before It’s Too Late
HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE BEFORE AN INCIDENT OCCURS
SURVIVING A NATURAL DISASTER takes
preparation and planning. Can your
building stand up against hurricanes,
earthquakes or blizzards? bit.ly/2m5JJLp
