National Construction Safety Team members:

Erica Kuligowski, Lead (presenter)

Joseph Main, Associate Lead

Benjamin Davis, Team Member

Maria Dillard, Team Member

Jazalyn Dukes, Team Member

Kenneth Harrison, Team Member

Jennifer Helgeson, Team Member

Marc Levitan, Team Member

Judith Mitrani-Reiser, Team Member

Scott Weaver, Team Member

Thomas Kirsch, outside Team Member (National Center for Disaster Medicine & Public Health)

NIST Hurricane Maria Program Overview

February 26, 2019

NIST-Gov’t of Puerto Rico (Dept of Economic Dev. and Commerce) Meeting
3/7/2019

Slide 2

• Dr. Erica D. Kuligowski is a research social scientist in the Engineering Laboratory at 

NIST. 

• Team Lead for the NIST Hurricane Maria Program

• Leader of a Hurricane Maria project that focuses on investigating the role of emergency 

communications in public response for those under imminent threat.

• Dr. Joseph A. Main is a research structural engineer in the Engineering Laboratory at 

NIST.

• Associate Team Lead for the NIST Hurricane Maria Program

• Leader of two Hurricane Maria projects, one focused on hazard characterization and another 

focused on the performance of critical buildings.

• Dr. Judy Mitrani-Reiser is Director of the Disaster and Failure Studies Program in the 

Engineering Laboratory at NIST.

• Leader of a Hurricane Maria project to assess the technical conditions associated with deaths and 

injuries that resulted from Hurricane Maria.

• Dr. Jennifer Helgeson is a research economist in the Engineering Laboratory at NIST.

• Leader of a Hurricane Maria project examining the impacts to and recovery of small and mediumsized manufacturers and retail and service industries. 

Hurricane Maria Team in Attendance 
Long History of Disaster and Failure Studies at NIST

Earthquakes Hurricanes Construction &

Building 

Tornadoes Fires

San Fernando, CA (1971)

Mexico City, Mexico (1985)

Loma Prieta, CA (1989)

Northridge, CA (1994)

Kobe, Japan (1995)

Kocaeli, Turkey (1999)

Maule, Chile (2010)

Christchurch, NZ (2011)

*Puebla, Mexico (2017)

Camille, MS/LA (1969)

Alicia, Galveston, TX 

(1983)

Hugo, SC (1989)

Andrew, FL (1992)

Fran, NC (1996)

Mitch and Georges, 

LAC (1998)

Katrina and Rita (2005)

*Matthew, NC (2016)

*Harvey, TX (2017)

*Maria, PR (2017)

Skyline Plaza Apartments, Bailey’s 

Crossroads, VA (1973)

Willow Island Cooling Tower, WV (1978)

Kansas City Hyatt Regency, Kansas City, 

MO (1981)

Riley Road Interchange, East Chicago, IN 

(1982)

Harbor Cay Condominium, Cocoa Beach, 

FL (1981)

L’Ambiance Plaza, Hartford, CT (1987)

Ashland Oil Tank Collapse, Floreffe, PA 

(1988)

U.S. Embassy, Moscow, USSR (1987)

Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City, 

OK (1995)

World Trade Center Disaster, New York, 

NY (2001)

Dallas Cowboys Indoor Practice Facility, 

May 2009

Jarrell, TX (1997)

Spencer, SD (1998)

Oklahoma City, OK (1999)

Joplin, MO (2011)

Moore OK (2013)

DuPont Plaza Hotel, San Juan, 

PR (1986)

First Interstate Bank Building, 

Los Angeles, CA (1988)

Loma Prieta Earthquake, CA (1989)

Hillhaven Nursing Home (1989)

Pulaski Building, Washington, DC (1990)

Happyland Social Club, Bronx, NY (1990)

Oakland Hills, CA (1991)

Watts St, New York City (1994)

Northridge Earthquake, CA (1994)

Kobe, Japan (1995)

Vandalia St, New York City (1998)

Cherry Road, Washington, DC (1999)

Keokuk, IA (1999)

Houston, TX (2000)

Phoenix, AZ (2001)

Cook County Administration Building Fire (2003)

The Station Nightclub, RI (2003)

Charleston, SC, Sofa Super 

Store Fire (2007)

Witch Creek & Guejito, CA, WUI Fire (2007)

Amarillo, TX, WUI Fire (2011)

San Francisco, CA (2012) 

*Gatlinburg, TN WUI (2016)

*Fuse-47, MD (2017)

Images©Shutterstock.com

*Ongoing Studies

Technical Investigations
• Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 as a 

strong Category 4 storm*.

• Winds: The storm tracked diagonally across PR, with 

hurricane-force winds extending over the entire 

Commonwealth; maximum estimated peak wind gusts were 

140+ mph (National Hurricane Center (NHC), NIST)

• Storm Surge: Surge produced inundation up to 9 ft along the 

southeastern coast of PR (NHC)

• Rain: Extensive rainfall, with max 38” (NHC)

• Landslides: Many hundreds of landslides occurred 

throughout mountainous regions (USGS)

• The entire population of Puerto Rico (~3.3M**) was exposed

• Widely varying estimates of mortality because of many indirect 

deaths (e.g., lack of access to electricity, clean water, healthcare)

Background: Hurricane Maria’s Impact on Puerto Rico

*Source: http://www.weather.gov/sju/maria2017

**Source: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/PR

Hurricane Maria 

Maximum Winds
Preliminary NIST Reconnaissance of Hurricane Maria (December 2017)

Building Performance: 

• Minimal structural damage to reinforced-concrete and concreteblock engineered buildings, although some roof failures were 

observed

• Many buildings with good structural performance still suffered 

extensive nonstructural damage and loss of function due to 

rainwater penetration of the building envelope 

• Severe physical damage and loss of function to metal building 

systems and non-engineered buildings

Electric Power: 

• Complete electrical outage across PR; cascading effects to other 

lifelines 

• Extensive damage to generation, transmission and distribution 

systems

Communications: 

• Near complete loss of digital communications across PR

• Extensive damage to tower- and building-mounted cellular 

equipment; damage to “hundreds of miles” of fiber optic cable 

(source: AT&T)

Source: NIST

Source: FEMA
Emergency Communications and Response:

• Governor urged people in flood/landslide-prone areas to evacuate; Many people/families had to be 

rescued from flooded areas across the Commonwealth

• Communication challenges between emergency officials, critical facilities, shelters, and with the 

public for extended periods of time

• Reliance on less efficient communication techniques (e.g., runners) used; redundancy gaps (e.g., few 

ham radios); overwhelming reliance on media

Source: NIST

Education/schools:

• Shelter populations inhabiting schools months after the event, potentially delaying access to education

• Power losses/generator failures also delayed/disrupted education

Healthcare:

• Non-structural building damage/generator failures impacted 

delivery of healthcare 

• Patients in multiple facilities had to be evacuated

Business and Supply Chain:

• Business closure data collected by NIST MEP Center show that 

food sector had largest impact

• Main reason for closures: power loss, building envelope 

damage, and road closures

Preliminary NIST Reconnaissance of Hurricane Maria (December 2017)

Source: NIST
Goals and Authorities of NCST Investigation

The NIST Director established a Team under the National Construction 

Safety Team (NCST) Act Public Law 107-231 on February 21, 2018 to 

conduct a technical investigation of the effects of Hurricane Maria on the 

U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, with the goals of characterizing: 

(1) the wind environment and technical conditions associated with deaths and 

injuries; 

(2) the performance of representative critical buildings, and designated safe areas in 

those buildings, including their dependence on lifelines; and 

(3) the performance of emergency communications systems and the public’s 

response to such communications. 
Goals and Authorities of NWIRP Study

Under the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 

2015 (Public Law 114-52), NIST is conducting a scientific study of Hurricane 

Maria’s impacts on Puerto Rico and subsequent recovery processes, with 

the goals of characterizing: 

(1) The impacts to and recovery of small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs), 

as well as businesses in retail and service industries; 

(2) The impacts to and recovery of education and healthcare services;

(3) The impacts to and recovery of infrastructure systems in Puerto Rico, with a focus 

on infrastructure that supports the functioning of critical buildings (i.e., hospitals 

and schools) and emergency communications.
3/7/2019

Slide 9

• Hazard Characterization: To characterize the wind 

environment associated with Hurricane Maria’s impact 

on Puerto Rico, including topographic effects, and to 

document other hazards associated with the 

hurricane, including storm surge, rainfall, flooding, and 

landslides. 

• Performance of Critical Buildings: To characterize the 

performance of critical buildings in Hurricane Maria by 

evaluating damage and loss of function for 

representative samples of hospitals, schools, and 

storm shelters with respect to the hazards they 

experienced, including an evaluation of selection 

criteria and design requirements for storm shelters.

9

Hurricane Maria Project Objectives
3/7/2019

Slide 10

• Public Response to Emergency Communications: 

To investigate the role of emergency 

communications in public response for those 

under imminent threat from Hurricane Maria. This 

project also aims to investigate the use of 

communications in disaster response (during and 

immediately after the hurricane event).

• Characterization of Morbidity and Mortality: To 

complete a quantitative morbidity and mortality 

assessment in Puerto Rico, to better understand 

how damaged buildings and supporting 

infrastructure played a role in the injuries and 

deaths associated with Hurricane Maria. 

10

Hurricane Maria Project Objectives (cont.)
• Recovery of Business and Supply Chains: To 

characterize the recovery of small- and medium-sized 

businesses, including manufacturing, retail, and service 

sectors in Puerto Rico to provide greater 

understanding of business continuity resilience 

planning and supply chain continuity and how these 

may differ between industries/affected regions.

• Recovery of Social Functions: To examine the recovery 

trajectories of sampled schools and hospitals in Puerto 

Rico to identify the underlying characteristics and 

conditions associated with recovery of critical social 

functions from Hurricane Maria

Photo Credit: 

Associated Press

Hurricane Maria Project Objectives (cont.)
• Impacts to and Recovery of Infrastructure 

Systems Supporting Critical Buildings and 

Emergency Communications: To investigate 

dependencies of building function on 

infrastructure (power, water, and transportation), 

including cascading loss of function and 

sequencing of recovery activities, and to 

investigate causes of the loss of functionality and 

extended-duration outage of the wireless 

communication system in Puerto Rico following 

Hurricane Maria.

Hurricane Maria Project Objectives (cont.)
Recommendations are anticipated based on the findings:

• Specific improvements to building standards, codes, and practices, 

as necessary

• Any research or other appropriate actions needed to improve the 

structural safety of buildings and to improve evacuation and 

emergency response procedures

Expected Impacts of the Hurricane Maria Program
Source: PR.gov

http://prfaa.pr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Oficinas-Regionales.pdf

Regions Selected for Study
Thank you!

https://www.nist.gov/topics/disaster-failure-studies/hurricane-maria

Erica Kuligowski

Engineering Laboratory

National Institute of Standards and Technology

301-975-2309

erica.kuligowski@nist.gov