Even in the offseason, hurricane preparation continues. BCLC staff and working group members saw this first hand during two tours that were part of our Disaster Relief and Recovery forum this month.

The first tour was an educational walk through the Disaster Survival House.  Originally built by State Farm and currently owned by the City of Deerfield Beach, FL, this house can withstand Category 5 hurricane force winds. 

Today, the house is primarily used as an educational facility to prepare school children for hurricanes that they will likely face as residents of South Florida.  It has various clever structural designs like electrical switches that shut off when exposed to water or screens that roll down from the top of the house to protect windows as effectively as traditional wood or aluminum shutters. 

For obvious reasons, Florida has some of the toughest building codes in the country and this house is an example of how protecting our infrastructure now can play a large role in keeping us safe in the future.

BCLC’s Disaster Assistance and Recovery working group members also had the opportunity to tour the National Hurricane Center (NHC).  The tour was an eye-opening experience as we marveled at how much the Center accomplishes with a small staff of about 50, and a budget of $7 million. The facility is quite small—only three main forecasting rooms, a conference room, and a few offices. 

The NHC tracks every hurricane that potentially threatens the U.S. in the Atlantic and the Pacific, and coordinates the hurricane hunters that literally fly into each hurricane’s eye. 

Various NHC staff explained the forecasting techniques, and the hurricane hunter staff explained that they haven’t lost a plane since the 1970s.  Most people don’t think about forecasting very often, but when a few miles is the difference between sheltering in place or evacuating your home, what they do at the Hurricane Center suddenly becomes very important. 

For more information about how to join BCLC at events like these, please contact Rebecca Freyvogel.