47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

emergency shelter use. Although there are a few exterior openingsthat can be breached by a storm, the hallways are generallywell protected from outside elements. It should be pointed out,however, that in situations where the roof or the exterior walls fall,interior corridor walls may collapse as well. The corridors are usuallyunfurnished and readily available for a variety of functions.They served well as safe areas during the storm, with only a few notableexceptions. At the D’Iberville High School, the corridors hadunprotected windows at each end. These windows were brokenduring the storm and it was necessary to move people into anotherbuilding. Unfortunately, there were no enclosed walkways orinterior corridors connecting the buildings, and it was necessaryto go outside into the storm to reach the other building. Similarly,when the roof structure at Lyman Elementary School shelterstarted to fail, it became necessary to take the refugees outside beforethey could reach safety in another building (see Figure 4-21).For hurricane shelter safety, it would be beneficial to have all ofthe buildings connected with enclosed corridors, to allow safermovement between buildings during a storm. Other componentsof the building envelope would have to be sufficiently resistantto wind and wind-borne debris impact to protect the occupantsand the services they need. School corridors in particular shouldeither have impact-resistant (or protected) windows or none at all.All exterior doors should also be designed to meet hurricane windloads and wind-borne debris impact requirements, as described inSection 3.4.3.1).Figure 4-21:Collapsed portion of theLyman Elementary SchoolBuildingOBSERVATIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL FACILITIES4-33