- FEMA P-908 Mitigation Assessment Team Report - Spring 2011 Tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22
- Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Forecast for 2012
FEMA P-908 mitigation assessment team report – spring 2011 tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce the release of publication FEMA P-908, Mitigation Assessment Team Report – Spring 2011 Tornadoes: April 25-28 and May 22; Building Performance Observations, Recommendations, and Technical Guidance (May 2012).
This report is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the April 25–28, 2011 tornadoes in the southeastern United States and the May 22, 2011 tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri. This report is also dedicated to the families, friends, and communities suffering from their loss.
In response to this devastation, the FEMA Building Science Branch of the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) deployed a Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee on May 6, 2011 to assess the damage caused by tornadoes occurring April 25 through April 28, 2011. Less than a month later, a powerful 0.75-mile-wide tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, destroying thousands of homes; FEMA once again deployed the MAT, on June 1, 2011, to assess the tornado damage in Joplin.
The report sets forth the MAT performance assessments of structures affected by the tornadoes, investigations of safe room and storm shelter performance, and documented lessons learned to help mitigate the loss of life and damage to buildings from future tornado events.
The MAT report is a compilation of input from a team of over 200 design and construction experts from various industry groups, academic institutions, non-profit associations, government agencies, and small businesses.
FEMA P-908 presents the MAT observations with 47 conclusions, and 49 recommendations directed at improving public safety and building performance during tornado events. The MAT report focuses primarily on the performance of the following types of construction:
- Residential buildings
- Industrial and commercial buildings
- Schools
- Critical facilities
- Safe rooms
The conclusions and hundreds of photos presented in FEMA P-908 stem from core needs to:
- Adopt and implement current model building codes
- Build safe rooms
- Identify best-available tornado refuge areas in the absence of a safe room, storm shelter, or hardened area
Key recommendations include proposed changes to building codes, assessments of all new and existing critical facilities for use as tornado refuge areas, proposed protections to schools and further study into the behavior of individuals seeking refuge during tornadoes.
Atlantic seasonal hurricane forecast for 2012
Extended Range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2012
Dr. Philip J. Klotzbach and Dr. William M. Gray at Colorado State University foresee slightly below-average activity for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. The tropical Atlantic has anomalously cooled over the past months, and it appears that the chances of an El Niño event this summer and fall are relatively high. They anticipate a below-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the United States coastline and in the Caribbean. According to their forecast (as of June 1, 2012), 2012 will have about 5 hurricanes (average is 5.9), 13 named storms (average is 9.6), 50 named storm days (average is 49.1), 18 hurricane days (average is 24.5), 2 major (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes (average is 2.3) and 4 major hurricane days (average is 5.0). The probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall is estimated to be about 90 percent of the long-period average. Atlantic basin Net Tropical Cyclone (NTC) activity in 2012 is expected to be approximately 90 percent of the long-term average. A brief update on El Niño conditions may be issued prior to the next forecast update on August 3 if conditions warrant.