Resiliency to Disasters

Abstract

The levels of physical and mental harm to persons and physical damage to property occurring during and after natural and manmade disasters are influenced by community design. Community resilience, the ability to bounce back after a disaster, is influenced by preparedness planning, community design, and social networks. Community design features that enhance resilience include siting critical facilities such as wastewater treatment plants away from floodplains, adopting and enforcing seismic codes for structures such as buildings and bridges, burying utility lines underground, and protecting natural systems such as wetlands. Passive survivability is the ability of a building to maintain critical life support functions in the absence of power, water, and heating and cooling.