FEMA’s Mitigation Assessment Team releases report with recommendations for improving the resilience of the built environment to natural disasters

To assess the impacts of Hurricane Harvey on Texas’ built environment, FEMA’s Building Science Branch deployed a Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) in November and December 2017. The MAT was deployed to Harris County to assess flood performance issues, and to Aransas, Nueces, Refugio, and San Patricio Counties to assess wind performance issues. MAT members evaluated building systems to determine the effectiveness of various design and construction practices and ascertain the effect of code adoption and enforcement on reducing flood and wind damage.

Hurricane Harvey dropped an estimated 70 inches of rain over parts of Texas during a 7-day period, with sustained winds up to 130 mph. The hurricane caused widespread damage to residential and commercial buildings and infrastructure. The MAT’s observations and resulting conclusions and recommendations are presented in FEMA P-2022, Mitigation Assessment Team Report: Hurricane Harvey in Texas and were used to develop two Recovery Advisories. To improve resiliency in future events, the lessons learned can either be incorporated into best practices for future retrofits or new hazard-resistant building design.

The Recovery Advisories and FEMA P-2022 are available on FEMA’s webpage: Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (2017).

The Hurricane Harvey in Texas MAT Report can also be directly downloaded here.

 To learn more about FEMA’s Mitigation Assessment Team Program, click here.

To learn more about FEMA’s Building Science Branch, visit our website.

Contact the Building Science helpline at FEMA-BuildingScienceHelp@fema.dhs.gov or 866-927-2104.

Training classes enable personnel to develop and enhance their continuity knowledge and expertise. Upcoming courses and locations are provided below. Individuals applying for classes are required to register and obtain a Student Identification (SID) Number. This number is used in place of the Social Security Number on the General Admissions Application Form (Find out how to obtain a FEMA SID at cdp.dhs.gov/femasid).

To register for a course within a Region, contact the Regional Continuity Manager for course attendance.

For courses at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) submit your application to EMI. Download and fill out the General Admission Application, FEMA Form 119-25-1 Screen Fillable (Acrobat 2.1 and above).

E/L/G 548/549: COOP Program Manager’s Course

E/L 550: Continuity Planners Workshop

E/L/G 141: Instructional Presentation & Evaluation Skills

E/L 557: Mission Essential Functions Workshop for Federal, State, Territorial, Tribal and Local Governments

For course overviews, contact your Regional Continuity Manager or the NCP Training Branch at FEMA-Continuity-Practitioner@fema.dhs.gov or visit our web page at www.fema.gov/continuity-operations.