Disaster Mitigation

and Architectural Design

Disaster mitigation still tends to be a reactionary effort in the British Virgin Islands. Builders, for example, make changes during the construction phase even though their filed plans comply with approved disaster preparedness regulations.

In spite of it, and possibly because of it, The Department of Disaster Management has worked regionally to improve its disaster prevention, warning, and response capacity. From June through November, its staff is always on call during the most active time of year.

DDM has made "disaster preparedness" and "disaster mitigation" priorities among residents and visitors to ensure maximum safety.

An environment would dictate architectural design and construction methods. However, increased occurrences, more intense events, and in places that have not been exposed to such changes are happening as well.

The most memorable hurricane was Hurricane Mitch. The damage and its path from the west coast of Africa, to Central America, across the Atlantic again to the United Kingdom, has demonstrated that even as sophisticated technology has become, weather will sometimes surprise us.

Another "surprise" was Hurricane Katya in 2011 whose path went from the Caribbean; up the eastern US coastline and caused major flooding and deaths; up to Newfoundland and east to England.

We felt for the people in Louisiana during their hurricane experience. Prior to moving to the British Virgin Islands, we had no information on how to prepare for such an event. We feel it is necessary to include a preparedness list.
Space should be allocated in a structure, be it residential, commercial, institutional, to adequately accommodate emergency provisions appropriate for the number of occupants over a reasonable amount of time.

It doesn't matter what part of the world you live in, it may be a good thing to have some or all of the items available for an emergency.

An architect had mentioned that the difference between inhabitants in the Caribbean and the United States was that during a tropical storm, Americans leave their homes. In the Caribbean, because of limited land mass, people cannot.

We emphasize disaster mitigation methods to withstand storms. For homes that have not been adequately built, there are a number of shelters on the highly populated islands. Unfortunately, in the VI, most of the shelters are located along the coast.

Atlantic Shelf, USGS

In addition to tropical force winds, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are located very close to where the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates meet which makes this a seismically active area.

Sensor information from the UK Virgin Islands territory is now being collected by the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, foremost in monitoring activities and disaster mitigation information in the region. Tremors range from mild shakes that happen frequently. If you are walking or in a moving vehicle, you may never notice it. However, the territory has experienced movements that vibrate structures. These are rare but it always pays to be alert and ready for an emergency.

New York state geological information is shown above.

Traditional West Indian structures were compact, with gable or hip roofs. Hip roofs increased rain collection and tied the structure together in such a way that winds almost flowed around them like a geodesic dome. Overhangs were kept small to minimize uplift.

After hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in 1995, the U.S. Virgin Islands government issued construction standards to improve architectural design construction showing how to efficiently use ties to strengthen all connections and adjoining planes. However, despite the work invested in this effort, monitoring was lax and public buildings including schools suffered damage in later storms. I will provide images from that time.

This document was also used for the construction technology courses I taught as a visiting lecturer at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.

These metal elements are small and can be covered easily with other material. It is important to observe the entire construction process to ensure and guarantee installation.

Sacred geometry studies set out proportion ratios that are suitable for construction in this region. To expand beyond compact one-room spaces, the unit became modular. BV Islanders achieved this from available materials and trial and error. The construction methods proved successful; many structures on historical Main Street , for example, withstood many events. Four inch by four inch posts, with studs and diagonal bracing let in around the studs was disaster mitigation practice.

I had the opportunity to see this construction when a should-have-been-protected-by-historic-preservation-law, traditional West Indian structure was being demolished. I drew the details because I did not have a camera.

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