Protecting Workers, Speeding Recovery
Manatee County and Leesburg use federal hazard mitigation funds to shield buildings from wind
Release Date: July 27, 2006
Release Number: LTR-06-038
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Mitigation is the practice of preparing for disasters before they happen by using disaster-resistant building techniques or any other sustained methods designed to reduce or eliminate long-term risks to life and property. Studies show that every $1 spent on mitigation can save up to $4 in costs related to disaster recovery.
One simple but extremely effective mitigation measure is the installation of storm shutters or wind barriers. When properly installed, these devices can protect homes, businesses and vital public facilities – and, in the process, human lives.
The following are two examples of how Florida communities are using federal hazard mitigation funds made available from the 2004 hurricanes to offer protection against future storms. Each project involves the installation of storm shutters or other barriers, relatively straightforward measures to make buildings wind-resistant. Such applications have proven to reduce the damage from a potential calamity – and speed disaster recovery.
Protecting Water, Preserving Lives
Among Manatee County’s public facilities, the water treatment laboratory and the water treatment plant’s main control building are two of the most important to public health and safety – especially in the event of a disaster.
The county is using two federal mitigation grants to install wind-resistant storm shutters to bolster these critical public structures against the threat of future hurricanes. In the event of a hurricane, the protection offered by the shutters would lessen damage, help speed the immediate disaster response and hasten recovery.
“More than 350,000 people get water from us,” said Brian Sharkey, security manager for the Manatee County utility operations department. “That water treatment plant can’t go down.”
The treatment plant is responsible for providing clean drinking water to residents throughout the county, and also serves as the backup water source for the city of Bradenton. The staff at the Manatee County laboratory ensures the water from the plant is safe.
“These are the people who certify the water drinkable if there’s a water line break or some kind of contamination,” Sharkey said. “There’s millions of dollars worth of testing equipment in that facility.”
Both facilities are vital in the event of a hurricane, Sharkey pointed out. He added that the laboratory also houses, in the event of a disaster, the incident command center for his department, which is charged with wastewater, water distribution and landfill operations.
Neither the water plant’s control building nor the laboratory was equipped with storm shutters during the record-setting 2004 hurricane season. Extremely busy response efforts to Hurricane Charley and a near-shutdown of the water treatment plant as a result of Hurricane Jeanne underscored the necessity of protecting these two buildings.
In August 2004, Hurricane Charley caused widespread power outages in the county’s rural eastern reaches, home to numerous farms and dairies. Emergency power and shelter were essential. Although very busy, county workers were successful in their relief operations. But the county experienced a closer call when Hurricane Jeanne struck Florida’s west coast a month later. That time, Manatee County nearly lost its ability to provide citizens with fresh drinking water and fire hydrant services.
“We had an electrical system short out at the water treatment plant,” Sharkey said. “Literally, the plant was within 30 minutes of shutting down. At the same time, Bradenton had saltwater intrusion into its system.” If the Manatee County plant shut down, this meant that neither jurisdiction would have safe water.
Luckily, Sharkey said, swift efforts by Florida Power and Light, contractors and utility workers restored power to the water treatment plant, and the plant continued to provide water to its regular customers. The plant also was available to provide backup service to the city of Bradenton.
But the incidents underscored the importance of the water facilities, and county leaders resolved to take precautions to mitigate future storm damage. Since neither structure was equipped with storm shutters, that seemed a logical place to shore up disaster readiness. The county decided to equip the water treatment plant’s control building and the water testing laboratory with state-of-the-art shutters made of perforated stainless steel.
“It’s a type of shutter that stays up all the time,” Sharkey said. “You don’t take them down, you don’t roll them up,” meaning the shutters are at the ready the instant there’s an emergency.
The perforations allow those inside the buildings to still see out. Not only do the shutters protect the buildings from debris on the outside, Sharkey said, but they also serve as a security measure to protect against intrusion, which supports the county’s homeland security efforts. Should there be an incident inside one of the buildings, quick-release pins make for swift and safe evacuations.
“If there’s a structure fire inside the building or a chemical leak from the water-testing materials,” Sharkey said, “you just pop the release pins and escape.”
The durable construction also prevents the usual wear and tear of the buildings’ moist and gaseous environment from taking its toll.
“Aluminum corrodes badly. In such an environment, you’d have to repair or replace aluminum shutters every three years or so,” Sharkey said. “Aluminum shutters are just not reliable in that sort of atmosphere.”
Uninterrupted water operations are important on a daily basis, both in and out of hurricane season, Sharkey said.
“If there’s a brush fire or a structure fire and that plant’s down, there would be no fire hydrant service available,” Sharkey said. “So the fire crews would have to bring in tankers or try to get water out of lakes, drainage ditches or reclaimed-water hydrants.”
Installing the shutters, he said, is a cost-effective hurricane mitigation measure, and also a measure that can reap benefits in terms of overall, year-round public health and safety.
Work on the two projects is expected to begin before the end of summer.
Protecting Those Who Protect Others
The city of Leesburg, in Lake County, is taking advantage of hazard mitigation grants made available from the 2004 hurricane season to increase the wind resistance of four of its critical public buildings: City Hall, a fire station, the community center and the Public Works administration building.
Assistant City Manager Edward Smyth said the increased protection provided by perforated, galvanized, permanently mounted hurricane barrier systems installed on the buildings’ windows will save money in potential damages and speed recovery operations related to future disasters. But, more importantly, the improvements will protect human lives during and after hurricanes and tornadoes.
“We were concerned with wind force blowing out the windows,” Smyth said, “but were more concerned with protecting our people and our equipment inside the buildings.”
The buildings are vital for operations during a disaster and later during recovery efforts, Smyth said.
City Hall houses the city’s citizen information hotline, a crucial resource in times of disaster. By calling the hotline, citizens and customers can provide and receive information on topics such as power outages, disaster recovery services and ice distribution. The hotline is staffed 24-7 “from before the event occurs right through when we end emergency operations,” Smyth said.
From City Hall, staffers also manage the city’s internal phone system and computer networks, as well as the fiber-optic network for all Lake County schools and many of the county offices.
“With people in the building at the height of an event, we need to keep them protected,” Smyth said. “And keeping our fiber optic network up and running is vitally important to the entire county.”
The Public Works administration building houses offices for city employees who coordinate placement of equipment and cleanup efforts.
And during disaster recovery, the community center houses feeding stations and rest centers for contractors and emergency workers. “We can cook hot, fresh meals for these people,” Smyth said. “It’s important to protect the building so we can provide that service. If the windows blow out, you couldn’t get people in there.”
Adjoining the community center is a public pool, which the city converted into a de facto bathing area for residents after Hurricane Charley left some of Leesburg’s neighborhoods without power for as much as seven days in 2004.
Those individuals who occupy the fire station, Smyth said, also are vital to preserving public safety before and after a hurricane. He is pleased with the quality of the hurricane barriers his city is installing on the four pivotal buildings.
“It’s an aluminum-framed, perforated, galvanized steel product,” he said. “It’s just like putting a screen over the windows. But in this case, it’s very protective. Because of the way the material is perforated, it will absorb the impacts of the wind.”
Smyth said Leesburg prides itself on being prepared before an oncoming hurricane by pre-staging supplies and equipment. And in essence, he said, the permanent hurricane barriers, which are slated to be installed beginning in August, will be pre-staged as well, always at the ready to help protect workers and speed response and recovery operations.
“That just ratchets that preparedness up another notch,” he said, “and keeps those people safe.”
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Friday, 28-Jul-2006 14:54:22