The Art and Science of Hazard Mitigation
Two Hurricanes in Three Weeks
Hurricanes, Vulnerability, and Causes of Damage
Hurricane
We Need to Be Educated
Vulnerability
Damages
Wind and Water
Air We Breathe
Wind
Water
Hurricanes and the Built Environment
Foundation
Structure
Building Envelope
Exterior Infrastructure
Sails, Wind-Catchers, and Wind Tunnels
Symmetry, Continuity, Centricity, Aerodynamics, Hydrodynamics
Structural Integrity
One Hurricane Is All It Takes
Cancun: A Mexican Gate to the Caribbean
My First Visit to Cancun
1979 Atlantic Hurricane Season
1988 Atlantic Hurricane Season
2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season
Paradise
Cyclones of Quintana Roo
Hurricane Gilbert—1988
Balance of Hurricane Gilbert
From the Lesson Book of Hurricane Gilbert
Typifying Damage Caused by Hurricane Gilbert
Ten Years Later—Higher Vulnerability
Preliminary Assessment
Potential for Damage
Hurricane Wilma—2005
Balance of Hurricane Wilma
Typifying Damages Caused by Hurricane Wilma
Classification and Mitigation of Damages
Beach Damage
Building Damage
Future Impacts
Natural Factors
Anthropogenic Factors
Hurricane-Resistant Buildings
Macro Approach
Project-Specific Approach
Climate Change: An Exacerbating Factor
Specific Problems
Links between Hurricanes and Climate Change
Expected Consequences of Business-as-Usual Approach
A Paradigm Shift Is Needed
Recommendations and Timelines
Biography
Ricardo A. Alvarez is an internationally known consultant, subject-matter expert, applied research scientist, former college professor, author, and speaker, focusing on the performance of the built environment in the context of vulnerability to natural hazards, risk management, hazard mitigation, emergency management, and adaptation to climate change.
He began focusing on how buildings perform under the impact of natural hazards as an architecture student in California, complementing his design work by conducting research using smallscale models to visualize the behavior of structures under various loading conditions, and how damage takes place under such impacts. Early in his career, he had a chance to convert the knowledge he had acquired through analytical and experimental research into actual practice when he experienced a major earthquake in his native Nicaragua and had the opportunity of assessing damage on numerous buildings, and of formulating plans for repairs and reconstruction with the objective of making buildings stronger against future expected impacts.
That early experience taught him invaluable lessons that contributed to a philosophy of design and professions, which he had begun formulating as a student, learning about building performance under external impacts. Among these lessons, the value of empirical knowledge acquired through field work and observation of damaged buildings in the aftermath of a disaster have become central to Ricardo’s approach to reducing the potential for damage to the built environment from expected impacts of natural hazards.
Another valuable lesson Ricardo has incorporated into his philosophy of work is that a practical methodology toward hazard mitigation based on empirical knowledge, complemented as needed by experimental and analytical work, will be effective independently of the type of natural hazard prevailing in any given region.
Ricardo’s lifetime work is proof of this. He has over the years successfully converted this method into a multihazard approach to mitigation that has worked effectively in cases of hurricanes, floods, and other hazards, and as a foundation for his work on adaptation of the built environment to climate change.
Ricardo has engaged in vulnerability, risk, and damage assessment field work in the United States and other countries posthurricanes Gilbert, Andrew, Mitch, Opal, Ivan, Katrina, Wilma, and many more, developing an empirical approach for characterizing impacts, assessing the causality of damage, and identifying effective hazard mitigation and adaptation measures to reduce the potential for damage to the built environment.
Ricardo is a former deputy director of the International Hurricane Center (1997–2004). He has served in the Miami-Dade County Local Mitigation Strategy Steering Committee (LMS), the Florida State Hazard Mitigation Plan Advisory Team (SHMPAT), and the CLEO Institute Advisory Board.
"I just finished reading Hurricane Mitigation for the Built Environment and realize I need to immediately run to our roof to see what shape it is in and how our equipment is anchored. Alvarez writes with such great clarity that the book is an easy read. I just ordered a second copy to share with our condominium's board of directors and maintenance staff!"
—Bernard Horowitz, Ph.D., Co-Founder, V.I. Technologies, Inc.; Board Member, The Cleo Institute
