With almost half of the buildings in the US located in areas considered as disaster hotspots, according to NPR, it’s critical that both businesses and individuals have emergency preparedness plans for how to proceed when they find themselves threatened by a hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake. In addition to these plans, actions need to be taken to preemptively reduce the threat these disasters may pose, whether that be through regular maintenance of safety devices, regular training, or significant updates to facilities, to harden them against known threats and bring them back in line with standards that may have changed since the building was first built.
“In the United States, we have a great deal of control over risk. Through our development, through local land use, through zoning, through where we allow development to occur, “A.R. Siders, a disaster researcher at the University of Delaware, told NPR. “We’re putting more buildings and more people in these risk prone areas.”
For tips on how to best secure buildings from natural hazards, check out this article in Facility Executive: https://facilityexecutive.com/2021/06/emergency-preparedness-natural-hazards-and-buildings/
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