Disaster & Failure Studies Updates on 

Enhancing the Readiness of Teams

Maria Dillard, Ph.D.

Acting Director, Disaster and Failure Studies Program

Associate Lead Investigator, Hurricane Maria NCST Investigation

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NCST Advisory Committee Meeting, June 30, 2020
Research Thrust

• Research program focused on 

disaster metrology, including 

structural performance and social 

sciences

• Coordinate research activities with 

NIST EL Groups, disaster 

statutory programs, NIST EL 

Divisions, and other NIST Labs

• Coordination with the Center of 

Excellence of Risk-Based 

Community Resilience Planning 

on field studies

• NSF/NIST Disaster Resilience 

Research Grants Program

• Outreach and dissemination

Statutory Thrust

• Evaluate hazard events against 

deployment criteria

• Manage identification, vetting, and 

onboarding of NCSTAC members

• Develop agenda, manage 

logistics, and set frequency for 

NCSTAC meetings

• Create annual NCST reports to 

Congress

• Coordinate statutory activities 

across programs related to 

disasters.

• Conduct field studies under 

various authorities

Procedures Thrust

• DFS Standard Operating 

Procedures

• HOT Team membership, training, 

and credentials

• Field and safety protocols

• Human subjects protocols 

• Manage equipment for disaster 

metrology and personnel 

protection

• Data preservation, security, and 

management

• Field tools (NDA’s, permissions, 

survey instruments)

• MOUs with other agencies, 

academics, and others

• NIST Disaster Working Group

NIST’s Disaster and Failure Studies Program
3

Disasters Scored Sept 2019- June 2020

Date Event Event Consequence 

Score (max=5.0)

Evacuation & Response 

Score (max=5.0)

09/01/19 Hurricane Dorian (Bahamas) 3.0 5.0

09/10/19 Sioux Falls Tornados (South Dakota) 3.0 3.0

10/12/19 Hard Rock Hotel (Louisiana) 4.3 3.0

10/23/19 Kincade Fire (California) 2.5 1.0

12/17/19 Southeastern US Tornadoes (Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia)

2.8 1.0

01/07/20 Indios Earthquake Sequence (Puerto Rico) 3.9 3.0

01/10/20 Australian Firestorm (Australia) 4.5 3.0

01/15/20 Building Collapse (Washington, DC) 1.8 1.0

01/24/20 Doganyol Earthquake (Turkey) 3.5 4.0

01/24/20 Houston Plant Explosion (Texas) 4.0 1.0

01/28/20 Lucea Earthquake (Jamaica) 1.2 1.0

*NIST deployed a team
4

Disasters Scored Sept 2019- June 2020, Continued

Date Event Event Consequence 

Score (max=5.0)

Evacuation & Response 

Score (max=5.0)

03/03/20 Tennessee Tornadoes (Tennessee) 3.3 3.0

03/18/20 Magna Earthquake (Utah) 3.0 2.0

03/24/20 Tishomingo Tornado (Mississippi) 1.8 1.0

03/28/20 Jonesboro Tornado (Arkansas) 2.2 2.0

04/13/20 Multi-state Tornado Outbreak (Texas, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 

Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, 

Maryland)

3.4 3.0

05/02/20 Indios Earthquake Sequence (Puerto Rico) 2.7 2.0

05/15/20 Tonopah Earthquake (Nevada) 1.7 1.0

05/16/20 Los Angeles Building Explosion (California) 2.8 5.0

*NIST deployed a team
Updates to the Standard Operating Procedures

• Decision Process for Hot Team Membership

• The “Hot Team” was created to readily expedite the deployment of “Active” staff into the field to conduct 

disaster and failure studies and to identify “Advisory” senior staff members, such as Division Chiefs and Lab 

Directors, who will not be in hazardous situations and largely interact at field offices or perimeter areas. 

• New process helps to ensure appropriate expertise along with commitment at various levels (individual, 

supervisor, DFS Director)

• Process and Training for Obtaining Data

• Supports team members in determining when a formal agreement is necessary (e.g., FEMA MOUs)

• Identifies key data privacy issues

• Addresses data use

• Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions for NCST Investigations

• Language to distinguish investigations from research has been developed for Hurricane Maria

• Content can be used for all future NCST IRB submissions

• New Handling of Data and Information contract clauses for NCST Investigations

• Distinguishes evidence from data created by a contractor (modeling results, etc.) 

• Clarifies how National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act (Public Law 107-231, codified at 15 U.S.C. 7301 et 

seq.) applies to each of these items
Updated Protocols for Pandemics

6

DFS has updated the Field Deployment First Level Hazard Review 

to include COVID-19 with input from experts across NIST (e.g., 

Office of Safety, Health, and Environment, Health Unit)

A new hazard scenario that uses COVID-19 as an example has 

been added to the Field Deployment Incident and Emergency 

Response Plan

Within the DFS Standard Operating Procedures, the field 

deployment safety protocols are being updated to include 

“Pandemic (and other disease outbreak) considerations”
NIST SciServer

• SciServer is a system allowing Science 

Researchers across multiple domains to host 

and share their datasets and provide query 

and analysis tools for collaborative research.

• SciServer was deployed on NIST’s Amazon 

Web Services (AWS) area, using Kubernetes 

installation

• The prototype aims to allow members of 

Hurricane Maria (HM) and other DFS projects 

to investigate its features

• Configured with dedicated storage on both 

file system and relational database servers

7

• Specific uses of SciServer currently being explored include:

- Automated download of tabular and spatial data from US Census Bureau to support a 

range of investigations and field studies

- Applications to support NIST systems modeling work for the Hurricane Matthew 

Longitudinal Field Study in Lumberton, NC
Collaborative Field Study in 

Lumberton, North Carolina

Hurricane 

Matthew 

Oct 2016

Wave 1

Nov 

2016

Wave 2

Jan 

2018

Hurricane 

Florence

Sep 2018

Wave 3

Apr 

2019

Wave 4

2020

North Carolina (above left); Robeson County with City of Lumberton in gray (above right)

Lumberton Study Area (below) 

NIST Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning
NIST Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning

New Recovery Instruments to Measure 

Multi-Dimensional Housing Recovery

Housing Recovery State Description

RS1: Repaired All major repairs have been completed although minor

repair work may remain.

RS2: Re-Occupied The residential unit is re-occupied.

RS3: Restored Stability The household plans to remain in the home at least one

year.

RS4: Restored Accessibility The household has the same or better access to

community services as it did before the event.

Predictors of recovery outcome: 

Damage, financial resources (insurance, government aid, and NGO assistance), 

income, race-ethnicity, housing tenure
NIST Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning

New Recovery Instruments to Measure 

Multi-Dimensional Business Recovery

Business Recovery State (structure) Business Recovery (firm’s operating

capacity)

RS1: Still in survival/response mode (but will 

recover)

Estimated Δ % capacity

RS2: Recovering Revenue change

RS3: Mostly Recovered Estimated Δ profitability

RS4: Fully Recovered Estimate Δ # customer

Predictors of recovery outcome (P fully recovered [1|0]): 

Damage (building, contents), accessibility, customer loss, owner demographics, financial 

resources, employee issues
Disaster Resilience Research Grants

• In 2019, NIST made 12 awards 

totaling $6.6 million.

• Program Solicitation: With this 

joint solicitation, the NSF and the 

U.S Department of Commerce (DOC) 

National Institute for Standards and 

Technology (NIST) call for research 

proposals to advance fundamental 

knowledge related to disaster 

resilience. Advances in scientific and 

engineering methods and tools 

relevant to resilience are also of 

interest.

• Letter of Intent Deadline Date

August 14, 2020

• Full Proposal Deadline Date

September 15, 2020
12

Thank you

Maria Dillard, Ph.D.

Maria.Dillard@nist.gov

Acting Director, Disaster and Failure Studies Program

Associate Lead Investigator, Hurricane Maria NCST Investigation

National Institute of Standards and Technology