47.5 MB - The Whole Building Design Guide

Figure 4-31:School bus washed awayby the storm surge4.3.12 SummaryEducational facilities intended to serve as emergency shelters,together with accompanying parking lots and access roads servingthese shelters, should be located inland, away from the coast, andon high enough ground to avoid flooding. Educational facilitiesthat are built closer to the shore because of the school districtboundaries should be constructed with the first floor above thehighest expected storm surge level. These educational facilitiesshould not be used as shelters during a hurricane, but couldserve as relief centers after the storm, as long as they do notsustain significant damage. No educational facilities should beconstructed within the immediate area along the shore, wherewaves are the strongest.Based on observations, the most resilient school buildings arebuilt using reinforced concrete structural systems, or reinforcedmasonry construction. The best performing roof decks werecast-in-place concrete, precast concrete, or concrete toppingover metal deck. Reinforced concrete or reinforced concretemasonry exterior and interior walls, including precast concretepanels and tilt-up concrete wall panels, seem to have sustainedthe least flood damage. Other observations indicate that thefollowing measures may help reduce the damage in hurricaneproneregions:OBSERVATIONS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CRITICAL FACILITIES4-43