Rebuilding Smarter and Stronger

Whether the subject is natural disasters or manmade disasters, the question that emergency management officials are faced with is this: What can we do differently to reduce risk and minimize the impacts to our citizens and our community's infrastructure?

Learning From Disaster

The best time to incorporate protective mitigation techniques that will result in stronger buildings and infrastructure is following a disaster. Under FEMA's Technical Assistance and Research Contract (TARC), the Building Engineering Sciences and Technology Team (BESTT)* collects disaster-related data that supports the development of best practices publications that advise design professionals, building owners, public officials, and the public on the impacts of multihazard risks and techniques on how to design or retrofit buildings to minimize the impacts.

But how can we better protect structures from natural and manmade events? Lessons learned from Katrina contributed to two significant manuals published by FEMA—FEMA 543 and FEMA 549— in providing design guidance.

FEMA 543: Focused on Critical Facilities

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, damage to health care facilities, fire stations, police stations, emergency operation centers (EOCs), and schools (used as shelters) left them nonfunctioning. Protecting critical facilities is a major concern to emergency managers and communities nationwide.

FEMA's 543 manual, Design Guide for Improving Critical Facility Safety from Flooding and High Winds, is significant for two reasons. First, it provides design guidance for constructing new facilities and guidance for retrofitting existing facilities. Second, it helps those responsible for maintaining and operating critical facilities in high wind and floodprone areas to understand how implementing mitigation measures could help them recover quickly from any future disasters.

PBS&J Senior Project Manager Lisa Scola, who was a contributing author notes, "This publication has important—and widely applicable— information to improve building performance for critical facilities that are vital during a post-disaster response."

FEMA 549: Improving Building Performance

While FEMA 543 focuses on critical facilities, FEMA 549—Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast—Observations, Recommendations, and Technical Guidance—offers recommendations of best practices for improving building performance in areas prone to high winds and floods.

FEMA deployed a Mitigation Assistance Team (MAT) to areas hit by Katrina in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Assessing damage to structures in these areas, MAT made observations and key recommendations that highlighted mitigation best practices in terms of building codes and design techniques to minimize future impacts to buildings. The recommendations made in FEMA 549 will help code officials in revising building codes and builders in addressing workmanship issues and building systems.

Daniel E. Deegan, CFM, program manager in PBS&J's Risk and Emergency Management Division, was part of MAT and one of the contributing authors to FEMA 549.

To download copies of the FEMA 543 or FEMA 549 manuals, visit the FEMA Information Resource Library at www.fema.gov/library.


*A joint venture of PBS&J, Greenhorne & O'Mara, Inc., URS Group, Inc., and
Dewberry & Davis, LLC