{"id":12539,"date":"2018-06-11T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T19:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/06\/11\/news-6308\/"},"modified":"2018-06-11T11:00:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T19:00:21","slug":"news-6308","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2018\/06\/11\/news-6308\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning for Reliability in Commercial and Industrial Buildings in the Face of Hurricanes and Rising Seas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Lionel Ardid| Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2018 16:15:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here we go again.<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 2018 is shaping up to be \u201cnear or above normal\u201d in terms of storm activity; it warned there\u2019s a 75% chance that 2018 will see close to or more than the average number of storms in the Atlantic basin.<\/p>\n

As CNN reports<\/a>: \u201cTen to 16 named storms — including five to nine hurricanes, and one to four major hurricanes with Category 3 strength or higher — are predicted this Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1, the federal agency predicted<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, in the Asia Pacific region it\u2019s looking like<\/a> the window on typhoon season is widening, with an earlier start this year and more activity expected.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Rising tide, sinking land mean greater storm risk\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Facility managers for commercial and industrial buildings in hurricane or typhoon-prone areas \u2013 or any coastal area for that matter \u2013 would do well to take notice. As last year\u2019s hurricane season made abundantly clear, the damage these coastal storms are doing is more than we\u2019ve typically seen in the past, even from storms that aren\u2019t necessarily category 4 or 5.<\/p>\n

It seems pretty clear that the reason is global climate change and the rise in sea levels. There\u2019s also another, lesser-known phenomenon at play: sinking land. In some coastal areas, land is actually sinking due to \u201csubsiding coastal lands, oil and water extraction activities, melting ice, or tectonic movement,\u201d according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> (EPA).<\/p>\n

Couple that with rising seas and you\u2019ve got real issues. Not coincidently, areas that are seeing the most rapid sea level rise are the same ones where the land is sinking, including parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast. As EPA reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, coastal Louisiana has seen its relative sea level rise by eight inches or more in the last 50 years,\u00a0which is about twice the global rate. Subsiding land in the Chesapeake Bay area worsens the effects of relative sea level rise, increasing the risk of flooding in cities, inhabited islands, and tidal wetlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dire predictions for flooding in coastal cities\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A recent Guardian article has a dire prediction for global coastal cities<\/a> based on United Nation\u2019s data on projected global temperature increases. The article notes that, \u201cscientists at the non-profit organisation Climate Central estimate that 275 million people worldwide live in areas that will eventually be flooded at 3\u00b0C of global warming,\u201d which is projected by 2100.<\/p>\n

It appears Asian cities will experience the worst impact. Densely populated cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Osaka would see millions of people devastated by coastal flooding. Looking across the globe, coastal cities like Rio De Janeiro, Miami and even the Hague would be drastically impacted by projected sea level rises.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., according to a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists some 90 communities<\/a> are already considered “inundated,\u201d chiefly in Louisiana and Maryland \u2013 areas facing both rising seas and sinking land. But, as CNN reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the end of the century, the list says, more than 50 cities with populations of more than 100,000 could be affected. Cities like Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and four of the five boroughs of New York will be considered inundated. Although the West Coast seems to be spared the brunt of inundation over the next few decades, even places like San Francisco and Los Angeles will be on the list by 2100.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protecting commercial and industrial facilities from disaster<\/strong><\/h2>\n

These sorts of predictions have city planners and managers of major public facilities taking notice. Boston, for example, several years ago launched an initiative to protect Logan Airport, largely in response to the damage Hurricane Sandy caused in New York and New Jersey in 2012.<\/p>\n

Initial projects include installing temporary flood barriers, watertight doors and waterproof fencing to protect critical assets, according to AirportImprovement.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The plan<\/a> also involves \u201cdry floodproofing,\u201d which means designing a building to make it \u201csubstantially impermeable\u201d to floodwaters. That means no more than 4 inches of water depth during a 24-hour period. Other buildings will be designed for \u201cwet floodproofing,\u201d which involves modifications for \u201cminimizing the potential for flood damage to critical infrastructure and equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ensure facility resiliency during hurricane season<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Commercial and industrial building owners would do well to pay attention to these sorts of designs, in order to keep water out as tides rise.<\/p>\n

But these are clearly long-term fixes. In the short term, with hurricanes forming in coming weeks and months, there are other steps facility managers can take to help ensure their buildings withstand whatever weather comes their way.<\/p>\n

They include:<\/p>\n