Enhancing Tornado Performance of Critical Facilities: Findings and Recommendations of FEMA's Mitigation Assessment Team

The spring 2011 tornadoes were record breaking in their intensity, severity, and loss of property and life. The Federal Emergency Management Agency deployed a Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) to observe building performance in five states. Critical facilities, such as hospitals, fire and police stations, schools, and emergency operation centers, were a key area of study. The tornadoes significantly affected many critical facilities. Poor building performance resulted in occupant deaths and injuries, and also placed additional burdens on response and recovery personnel as they endeavored to assist their communities. To facilitate improved performance of critical facilities and enhanced protection of building occupants, the MAT developed Tornado Recovery Advisories for owners and designers of critical facilities located in tornado-prone regions. This paper presents the evolution of critical facility tornado design strategies over the past 40 years, with a focus on new strategies that were developed by the MAT in the aftermath of the 2011 tornadoes.