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Tag: Disasters

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FEMA developed the Best Available Refuge Area (BARA) Checklist for the first edition of FEMA P-361 to use in assessing a building’s susceptibility to damage from extreme-wind events such as tornadoes and hurricanes. The checklist evaluation process guides registered design professionals (architects and engineers) in identifying potential refuge areas at a site with one or more buildings. The term “best available refuge area” (or “BARA”) refers to an area in an existing building that has been deemed by a registered design professional as likely to protect building occupants during an extreme-wind event better than other areas in the building when a safe room is not available.

The BARA should be regarded as an interim measure only until a safe room can be available to building occupants. A safe room is a hardened structure specifically designed and constructed to the guidelines specified in FEMA P-320, Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business and FEMA P-361, Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safe Rooms.

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Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) (2015).

The criteria presented in this publication address how to design and construct a safe room that provides near-absolute protection for groups of individuals sent to a building or structure expecting it to be capable of providing them life-safety protection from wind, windborne debris, and flooding. This guidance interprets the new International Code Council® (ICC®) ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters [(ICC-500, produced in consensus with the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA)] design criteria and provides technical design guidance and emergency management considerations to individuals who are looking for “best-practices” that are above minimums in the codes and standards.

http://www.fema.gov/safe-room-resources/fema-p-361-design-and-construction-guidance-community-safe-rooms

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Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), (2015).

Every year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme windstorms cause numerous fatalities and injuries, and cost millions of dollars worth of property damage throughout the United States. Most businesses and public buildings, even new ones constructed according to current building codes, do not provide adequate protection for occupants seeking refuge from these events. A Community Safe Room can provide “near-absolute protection” for many community members, when it is constructed in accordance with FEMA criteria. A growing number of these Safe Rooms have already saved lives in actual events.

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The Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Guidance is a comprehensive document that details the specific criteria of the three HMA programs: the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program, and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program. The guidance consolidates each program’s eligibility information and outlines the common elements and unique requirements among the grant programs so that Federal, state, tribal, and local officials can easily identify key similarities and differences between the programs. The following sections provide more details on the key changes included in the fiscal year 2015 (FY15) update of the HMA Guidance. These enhancements will promote resilience and speed up application review and project implementation.

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Published by the International Code Council (ICC), ICC/NSSA Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters (ICC 500), is a referenced standard in the International Codes (ICodes). The ICC, in partnership with the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA), formed a national committee in 2003 that developed and released a consensus standard to codify the design and construction requirements of tornado and hurricane storm shelters. The ICC 500 was first published in the summer of 2008 and updated in 2014. ICC 500 provides the minimum requirements to safeguard public health, safety, and general welfare relative to the design, construction, and installation of storm shelters constructed for protection from high winds associated with tornadoes and hurricanes. This standard is intended for adoption by government agencies and organizations for use in conjunction with model codes to achieve uniformity in the technical design and construction of storm shelters.

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This resources provides frequently asked questions regarding FEMA residential and community safe rooms guidance. This information may be helpful for those in tornado and hurricane prone areas.

If you need additional information, please contact the FEMA Safe Room Helpline by email at saferoom@fema.dhs.gov or by calling 866-927-2104.

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U.S. Department of Justice, 2005

The continuous threat of terrorism has thrust domestic preparedness obligations to the very top of the law enforcement agenda. For today’s law enforcement executive, the capacity to assess and manage risk is imperative. In the post­September 11 era, this capacity must be considered as much a staple of law enforcement operations as crime analysis, criminal intelligence, and crime prevention. The consequences of failing to assess and manage terrorist threats and risk could be incalculable.

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Homeland Security, 2013

Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 201, Second Edition provides communities additional guidance for conducting a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA). The First Edition of this Guide (April 2012) presented the basic steps of the THIRA process. Specifically, the First Edition described a standard process for identifying community specific threats and hazards and setting capability targets for each core capability identified in the National Preparedness Goal as required in Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8: National Preparedness.

This Second Edition expands the THIRA process to include estimation of resources needed to meet the capability targets. The Second Edition also reflects other changes to the THIRA process based on stakeholder feedback, such as streamlining the number of steps to conduct a THIRA and providing additional examples. Where appropriate, this Guide highlights key changes from the First Edition of CPG 201. This Second Edition supersedes the First Edition of CPG 201.

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