47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

3.4 BEST PRACTICES IN HURRICANE-PRONE REGIONSThis section presents the general design and constructionpractice recommendations for critical facilities located inhurricane-prone regions. These recommendations are additionalto the ones presented in Section 3.3 and in many casessupersede those recommendations. Critical facilities located inhurricane-prone regions require special design and constructionattention because of the unique characteristics of this typeof windstorm. Hurricanes can bring very high winds that last formany hours, which can lead to material fatigue failures. The variabilityof wind direction increases the probability that the wind willapproach the building at the most critical angle. Hurricanes alsogenerate a large amount of wind-borne debris, which can damagevarious building components and cause injury and death.Although all critical facilities in hurricane-prone regions requirespecial attention, three types of facilities are particularly importantbecause of their function or occupancy: EOCs, healthcarefacilities, and shelters. EOCs serve as centralized managementhubs for emergency operations. The loss of an EOC can severelyaffect the overall response and recovery in the area. Healthcarefacilities normally have vulnerable occupants (patients) at thetime of a hurricane, and afterwards, many injured people seekmedical care. Significant damage to a facility can put patients atrisk and jeopardize delivery of care to those seeking treatment.Shelters often have a large number of occupants. The collapseof a shelter building or entrance of wind-borne debris intoa shelter has the potential to injure or kill many people. See3-98 MAKING CRITICAL FACILITIES SAFE FROM High Wind