Planning On Best Ways To Recover From A Hurricane Is Vital In Emergency Preparedness Plans
When we think of emergency preparedness we often think of the immediate of a hurricane event. That is very true in that we need to be very conscious of the initial emergency preparedness necessities that we will need for the devastation of a hurricane. But no emergency preparedness plan is complete without also a hurricane recovery plan.
The hurricane recovery plan must be based on sound disaster preparedness information that are built into the plan for the next hurricane that will eventually strike again. By developing a plan of action BEFORE a hurricane disaster to repair or entirely rebuild damaged or destroyed homes and business the hurricane preparer / hurricane survivor can be well head of the situation after the initial disaster because they will know what they want their new home be like structurally and even design wise.
By also having research the general cost of supplies an what you hope to have you will also be able to articulate better to the building contractors exactly what it is you want very quickly. Remember in reconstruction the costs go up considerably when changes are made to the plans or in process building of the repaired home. The more ‘duck you have in order- the more likely the duck will make it to the other side of the road”, as my grandmother use to say
So at some point perhaps on a yucky day or when you have a bit f free time, start to consider NOW what you would want in your home should your home be destroyed or severely damaged in a hurricane. Start to investigate cost-smart homes that can be built in a hurry and that are effective and efficient. In your emergency preparedness checklist have a section on hurricane recovery plans. Always start to plan for the hurricane after the next one. You will then be at least a good mile ahead of the game called hurricane preparedness.
The article below gives you some ideas on local materials that may be cost-effective for you to use in a hurricane zone as well. The more cost efficient and environmentally helpful the home is the better for your living after a hurricane. Since our tax laws are now leaning towards environmentally green there are often additional tax benefits to rebuilding in that line of action. Every tax deduction can be of help in the rebuilding of a home and life.
COMMENTS WELCOMED!
Please share your thoughts, emergency preparedness tips and stories here on this blog.
All I ask is that everyone be respectful and sensitive of each other and that identifying information about a person who is not the author be limited to protect their privacy.
Be Safe
Terrie
www.trainforahurricane.com
CUBA: Ecomaterials for Low-Cost, Hurricane-Proof Housing
By Patricia Grogg
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39579
Marilú Figueredo in her house made of ecomaterials in Manicaragua, Cuba.
SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Oct 9 (IPS) - Low-income Cuban families now have a greater chance of having a home of their own thanks to a prize-winning construction method that uses strong, locally-produced alternative materials.
"The hurricane destroyed my house, but the one I have now is better and safer, and was built in around three months," Marilú Figueredo, a mother of three who lives in Manicaragua, a rural district in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, told IPS.
She is one of the beneficiaries of a plan for repairing and building homes that were damaged or destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Dennis, which caused damages to 120,000 homes in Cuba, 15,000 of which were completely levelled.
"I think that if another hurricane comes, I won't have any problems," she said optimistically.
The same confidence is shared by pensioners María Trujillo and Felicia Armenteros, and by Iluminada Rivero, who is divorced. The three women live in Quemado de Guines, a Villa Clara town that has been hit hard by hurricanes over the years.
The women’s new homes have replaced the precarious housing units they were living in two years ago. The new buildings are made of environmentally-friendly materials manufactured in their own towns at a low-cost, known as ecomaterials because they are both ecological and economic.
The concept covers a broad range of building materials, whose common denominator is the use of local raw materials or the recycling of waste products like sugar cane bagasse.
Strong results have been obtained locally with micro-concrete roofing tiles, pozzolana (CP-40) cement -- named for the volcanic ash of the Pozzuoli volcano in Italy -- made with the ashes of sugar cane straw, pre-cast hollow concrete blocks in which Portland cement has been partially replaced by CP-40, and low-energy fired clay bricks using bio-waste products as fuel.
CP-40 is an alternative binder that requires less energy than traditional Portland cement and therefore reduces climate changing carbon dioxide emissions.
"The key is that we have returned to our roots," Professor Fernando Martirena told IPS. "In the past 5,000 years of human civilisation, the most widely-used and sustainable materials are red bricks, wood and roman cement. We are now using them again, but in conjunction with the advances made by modern science and technology."
Ecomaterials provide alternatives not only for solving Cuba’s current housing shortage, but also for the problems that will plague many countries in the future, when oil and modern materials "like glass and titanium" will be unsustainable and unaffordable, he said.
Several times more earth must be removed to produce a ton of titanium -- an extremely strong and versatile rare metal that is stronger than steel yet can be as light as aluminium -- than to produce a ton of cement.
"Ecomaterials have shown to be long-lasting and attractive, and they strike a balance with the environment. By using them, we are reducing the size of our ecological footprint," said the expert.
Martirena heads a team of academics from the CIDEM research and development institute at the Central University of Las Villas who for several years have been seeking low-cost ways to reduce the vulnerability of buildings to hurricanes while coming up with solutions to Cuba’s chronic shortage of decent housing.
This year, their "ecomaterials in social housing project" won the World Habitat Award, bestowed annually by the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF), an independent research organisation that promotes sustainable development and innovation in housing.
The prize includes 10,000 pounds sterling (over 23,000 dollars), but the most important aspect is that "the idea is awarded, and it is a good way of disseminating the techniques, to get people to learn about and use them," said Martirena.
According to the BSHF web site, the Cuban project "has developed and transferred a range of innovative and environmentally sustainable building materials which can be manufactured locally in small workshops and are suitable for both rural and urban areas."
The CIDEM project sets up workshops that train people how to produce ecomaterials in their own communities, as part of a local production system designed to be self-sustaining.
Local residents, and especially low-income families, have access to loans for producing the ecomaterials for their own houses from the Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA) (popular savings bank), explained Belkis Delgado, a housing official in Manicaragua.
Although the technologies using ecomaterials are geared toward small-scale, decentralised production, to bolster the local economy by generating job opportunities, the project includes a strict quality control system, says CIDEM, which also provides ongoing technical assistance.
"The project has been successful because we have not imposed anything on people. Flexibility has been our motto, and we never aspired to taking over the role of existing institutions, but instead have sought to forge alliances around a common goal, while boosting local capacities and adapting ourselves to different local contexts," said Martirena.
Omaida Cruz, in charge of cooperation in the non-governmental National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) in Villa Clara, said the initiative has bolstered local possibilities for development.
Around 20 Cuban municipalities are now using the alternative building techniques. In the northern part of Villa Clara alone, some 3,000 houses were built, repaired or renovated with ecomaterials between 2000 and 2006.
But "our production has alleviated, rather than fully met, demand, which is high," said Lázaro Bermúdez, director of a workshop in Manicaragua.
In this district of 74,500 people, 60 percent of the 27,000 housing units are in poor or mediocre condition. According to officials, the biggest housing problems in this mainly farming area are in rural zones.
This year, the project will be extended to provinces in eastern Cuba.
"At this rate, by 2010 we could have between 40 and 50 workshops operating throughout the country. This, together with government plans for producing building materials, could resolve the current housing emergency within 10 years," Martirena predicted.
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