Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Student Manual

CA Emergency Mgmt. Agency Safety Assessment Program Evaluator Manual April 2011Photo courtesy FEMAFigure 6-8 – Roof torn off elementary school, Chapman, KS tornado, 2008Figure 6-5 shows a neighborhood damaged by the F3 tornado that struck Windsor, Colorado in2008. Over 70 mutual aid building inspectors were mobilized in Colorado in response to thisdisaster to evaluate structures for safety.Figure 6-6 shows a site in Lexington, Mississippi where the house was completely removed fromits foundation by the tornado that struck there in 2010. This might be tagged RESTRICTED USEif there is no dangerous debris, so cleanup of the site can begin.Figure 6-7 shows a neighborhood in Chapman, Kansas that was damaged by an F3 tornado in2008. Note the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) marking on the wall of one of the damagedhomes. This tornado destroyed 65 homes in Chapman and damaged 175 other homes there.That same tornado caused the damage seen in Figure 6-8. The roof of the Chapman ElementarySchool was torn off, and the windows were blown out. In the same event, the schooladministration building, the high school, and the middle school were all destroyed.As seen in these photos, damage from tornados can be very severe, yet localized to the path ofthe tornado. Generally, as a tornado moves through a community, the extreme damage willusually be in the middle of the path, with moderate damage on either side, and little to nodamage beyond that. Tornados can be cruelly capricious, however, absolutely devastating oneblock of homes, while leaving the next block with no damage at all.The safety assessment process may be simplified, as the path of complete devastation could beposted AREA UNSAFE and barricaded off. This may help local governments control entry soonly residents with identification can enter under supervision to retrieve possessions.191