Assessing Disaster Impacts with the Building Science Disaster Support Program

Main Functions

Resource Library

The Building Science Disaster Support (BSDS) Program sends experts to assess the performance of buildings, structures and Community Lifelines after disasters like extreme wind, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and more.

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The Building Science Disaster Support Program has been around for over 30 years. However, it hasn’t always gone by that title – in the past it’s been referred to as the Building Performance Assessment Team Program and the Mitigation Assessment Team Program.

Main Functions

Disaster Readiness (Steady State)

During disaster readiness, the program gathers information about natural hazard events and locations to determine if disaster support is needed.

Disaster Support Operations

Depending on the analysis of the events, the BSDS program can provide Disaster Support Operations by assembling and deploying Mitigation Assessment Teams (MAT) to evaluate the performance of buildings, other structures, and associated community lifelines.

Working closely with federal and state, local, tribal and territorial officials, academia and private sector partners, the MAT develop conclusions and recommendations to improve building, utility and community resilience on the local and state levels.

Technical Assistance

The Building Science Disaster Support Program can also provide Technical Assistance and subject matter expert support for the disaster.

You Have Questions

“How do we build back better?”

“What can we do differently to prevent future damage?"

BSDS Has Answers

Learning from the disaster damage, the BSDS program provides expert support and technical assistance throughout the recovery process.

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Resource Library: Search for Reports and Advisories

This collection contains all available resources produced as a result of the Building Science Disaster Support Program’s recommendations.

These reports, fact sheets and advisories are based on their observation of the impact of natural hazards on the built environment and otherwise.

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Most Recent Reports

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FEMA P-2333: Mitigation Assessment Team Compendium Report. New York City: Effects of Hurricane Ida.

This compendium report contains three technical reports and four fact sheets that focus on construction and stormwater issues in relation to Hurricane Ida.

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Best Practices for Wildfire-Resilient Subdivision Planning (Marshall Fire MAT)

This document provides builders/contractors, planning professionals, HOAs, and local land resource managers with information about wildfire resiliency planning and open-space management policies, best practices, and procedures at subdivision- and neighborhood-scales.

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Mitigation Strategies to Address Multi-Hazard Events (Marshall Fire MAT)

This document is intended to help planners, developers, local land management personnel and private property owners identify how wildfires interact with other natural hazards and mitigate the impact of these multi-hazard events.

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Building Performance: Basement Buildings and Urban Flooding (Hurricane Ida in New York Technical Report 1)

This report provides information to help New York City and similar urban areas to prepare better for future urban flooding events.

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Building Performance: Egress from Floodprone Basements (Hurricane Ida in New York Technical Report 2)

This report describes the MAT’s observations related to the egress of occupants from basements flooded when the capacity of stormwater drainage systems is exceeded.

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Building the Case for Open Space (Foundations)

Developed in response to Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, this guidance compares the two predominant construction foundation systems available in South Louisiana and provides greater detail regarding their costs, impacts, and advantages.

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Considering Policies and Regulations to Reduce Risks Caused by Urban Flooding (Hurricane Ida in New York Fact Sheet 4)

This fact sheet summarizes the recommendations from technical reports FEMA prepared after Hurricane Ida. Communities use different mechanisms to put recommendations into practice.

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Decreasing Risk of Structure-to-Structure Fire Spread in a Wildfire (Marshall Fire MAT)

The purpose of this document is to provide recommendations to contractors and designers on new building construction that may prevent or slow the spread of a fire from structure-to-structure in densely-spaced neighborhoods.

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Flood Warning and Inundation Mapping (Hurricane Ida in New York Fact Sheet 2)

This fact sheet describes how flood warning systems, flood alerts, and flood inundation products convey flood risk information.

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Homeowner’s Guide to Reducing Risk of Structure Ignition from Wildfire (Marshall Fire MAT)

This document provides homeowners with steps they can take now to decrease the likelihood their homes will ignite due to direct flame contact, ember intrusion, or hot gases from wildfires at various physical vulnerabilities throughout the exterior envelope of the house. Specifically, it provides information about some measures that homeowners can take to address vulnerabilities at joints, gaps, vents, and attachments such as decks and fences.

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