Emergency Management - Coursework Example

Running head: emergency management 17th February Introduction With the high demand for houses due to the growing population, there is need to ensure that the buildings individuals reside are safe. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is focused at reducing the effect of flooding on public as well as private structures. This goal is attained by providing insurance for owners of the property as well as encouraging members of the society to adopt floodplain regulations. Disasters are not only major cause of deaths in any country, but they are also costly for any government. On its part, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of US homeland security that was created by two executive powers in 1978 (Bea, 2002). With the primary role being to coordinate the response to disasters in US, FEMA, also provides the government and states with experts who guides them in various fields. The organization also gives relief funds to property owners in addition to helping them to receive low interest loans. In order to ensure that property owners take into consideration the safety of the residents, the US government has established building codes. These are set of regulations that are adopted during designing, construction, alteration as well as maintenance of structures. This paper aims at discussing the risk reduction that applies to hazard-resistant building designs and materials. Buildings in any location are subject to quite a number of phenomena. These include floods, windstorms, and earthquakes among others. Even though the implications of the disasters are not predictable, they can be effectively managed through a proper hazard mitigation plan. There are three major principles that should be followed during the identification, prioritizing and implementation of the mitigation measures. First, the constructors must employ proactive integrating mitigation during new constructions. This is based on the fact that it is economically viable as compared to retrofitting existing buildings. The second principle is that construction must use all-hazard mitigation. Being the most cost effective method, this principle requires many applicable hazards are addressed. The third principle requires that high performance buildings are designed to be part and parcel of the solution. These includes the use of leveraging traditional hazard mitigation techniques for example elevation of structures in areas that are prone to floods, creation of clear zones around the new buildings and adopting effective strategies to mitigate climate change (Wexler and Richard, 1998). When employing disaster reduction measures, it is proper to consider the issues as discussed in the section below in order to protect properties, lives as well as prevention of operations from destruction by natural disasters. Earthquakes One of the major factors that influence building design is level of seismic resistance needed. The level includes prevention of nonstructural damage during minor shaking and major earthquakes as well as avoiding collapsing of the buildings (WBDG Secure/Safe Committee, 2014). To avoid the negativities caused by the earthquakes, the safety hazard can be accomplished by shear walls, moment resisting fames, diaphragms, braced fames, energy dissipating devices and base isolation among others. The vital issue of earthquake design is to promote life safety as well as getting the occupants of the buildings in a safe way and not the ability of the building to withstand the effects of the earthquake. Hurricanes and Tornandoes Major strategy to protect a building from the hurricanes and tornandoes damages requires that the designers employ integrity of the building environment including windows in addition to adopting a design that can uplift forces. For instance, braces should be employed in gables and roof trusses. Additionally, in order to ensure that the connections between walls and foundation as well as walls are roofs are strong, the designers should use the hurricane straps (Charles, 2011). During the designing process, designers are required to upgrade the roofing structure in addition to enhancing protection of openings around the buildings. Flooding According to National Flood Insurance Program, hazard avoidance is the best way to achieve flood mitigation. This implies that buildings should be erected in risk informed sites that includes estuarine, coastal areas, and riverine floodplains. Some of the notable flooding hazards include riverine hazards that are caused by flooding due to stream networks, coastal hazards, still water events and velocity events that are caused by fast moving waters. In cases the designers want to site a building in areas that are prone to floods, they should be elevated above flood levels (Sherry, 1997). Some of the key flood mitigation techniques that the law authorizes the designers to adopt includes constructing the lowest floor above the flood level, prevention of water entry by making the construction water tight, relocation of the building, dry flood proofing, and erection of floodwalls. Rainfall The building codes clearly indicate that any building whether commercial or residential should keep the interior space in a dry condition. This implies that all roofs as well as walls should protect the internal space against rain. For instance, the drainage that is used in the roofs must be in a position to prevent ponding water. Another regulation is that the buildings with flat roofs should undergo an inspection as a way of ensuring that they comply with the law. Differential settlements Some of the major causes of ground subsidence are sinkholes, hydrocompaction, mining, oxidation and organic soil drainage among others. Thus, during the site selection, the designers must consider the implication of these subsidences currently and in future. The law directs the constructors and building designers to employ subsidence mitigation that includes proper site selection that includes the use of geotechnical study of the site (WBDG Secure/Safe Committee, 2014). One of the key strategies to use in areas that are prone to subsistence is properly constructing the foundations. For instance, basement among other below ground projections should be put at the minimal level. Other measures that should be used in subsidence-prone areas include shear walls, earth reinforcement tactics for example dynamic compaction and geo-fabrics (Hageman and Brian, 2008). In this way, the collapsible soils will be made to be strong while at the same time reducing the damage that can be caused by subsistence. Mudslides and landslides The major causes of large number of casualties especially in areas with high rainfall are mudslides and landslides. These are caused by earthquakes, slope modification, gravity driven movement, and water saturation. Thus, there is need to adopt effective methods of reducing landslides risks. These methods includes choosing stable slope sites, use of proper drainage system, construction of channels, use of deflection walls, using geo-synthetic materials, retention walls and planting ground covers (Wright, 2000). Tsunami Tsunami is defined as a series of ocean waves that are caused by volcanic activity, landslides and earthquakes in the sea floor (WBDG Secure/Safe Committee, 2014). Even though it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of Tsunami, its implications can be mitigated in various ways as indicated by the building codes. These ways includes community preparedness, land planning, effective responses, siting far from shorelines and timely warnings. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it is clear that building designers and property owners should not overlook the building codes that National Flood Insurance Program and other government agencies have put in place. While property owners are focused at maximizing the revenue that is generated by their buildings, they should not overlook the security of the people residing in the houses. Major areas that are closely covered by the building codes include earthquakes, mudslides and landslides, tsunami, hurricanes and tornandoes, differential settlements and rainfall among others. It is the duty of the safety agencies to ensure that all the buildings comply with the building codes. References Bea, K. (2002). Proposed Transfer of FEMA to the Department of Homeland Security. Order Code RL31510 (updated 29 July 2002), Report for Congress. Charles G. (2011). Blue Ember Technologies, LLC. Safety versus Security in Fire Protection Planning, The American Institute of Architects: Knowledge Communities, May 2009. Retrieved on June 22, 2011. Hageman, M and Brian E. (2008 ). Contractors guide to the building code. CA: Craftsman Book Co. Sherry H. (1997). The Building of an American City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. WBDG Secure/Safe Committee. (2014). Natural Hazards Mitigation. Available from http://www.wbdg.org/design/resist_hazards.php Wexler, J and Richard, P. (1998). Housing and local government: a research guide for policy makers and planners. Lexington: Lexington Books. Wright, M. (2000). The Nations Response to Flood Disasters: A Historical Account. New York: Macmillan Publishers. Read More