Earthquake Webinar #1

On April 29, we participated in a webinar titled Why is Puerto Rico Shaking? / How to Keep Homes and Communities Safe from Earthquakes. The webinar, which drew 1,500 participants, was hosted by Enterprise Community Partners—a long-time collaborator of our alliance. We discussed community resilience and the importance of resilient Community Centers as educational centers and oases of strength, both year-round and during or after disruptive events. We shared ‘Community Together: Resilient Community Center Design for Island Communities’ and participated in a panel discussion.

Earthquake Webinar #2

At the end of May, we will sponsor a webinar titled ‘Earthquake Home Safety, which will be hosted by Enterprise Community Partners. The webinar content was developed by Pedro Sifre, Structural Engineer and Senior Principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger; Danniely Staback, Architectural Designer at Kennedy & Violich Architecture; and Yanel de Angel, FAIA and Principal at Perkins and Will.

Eddie Guerra, Senior Engineer at ARUP Energy Group and co-founder of Voluntariado de Ingenieros (https://en.ingenierospr.org/) is collaborating with us to illustrate the top 10 structural failures their organization has seen in the many months they have been doing STC-20 inspections. This webinar is geared for professionals, NGOs and community leaders. Stay tuned for the webinar announcement!

Educational Videos

Based on the ‘Earthquake Home Safety’ webinar content, we plan to release a series of 10-minute videos in Spanish, especially focused in educating homeowners about strategies for earthquake home safety. That series will be shared in our website and in social media.

NASA Develop

NASA Develop has collaborated with resilientSEE-PR, the Toa Baja Municipality, Perkins and Will, and the MIT Urban Risk Lab to produce a dynamic mapping tool for the Toa Baja Municipality. This tool used NASA satellite images to assess the risks and vulnerabilities in this coastal municipality and is built in a GIS platform. The tool will soon be release to the public.

Lexington United for Puerto Rico

We have been collaborating with Lexington United for Puerto Rico, focusing on relief and advocacy for fisherman villages. Today we have fundraised $2,000 to help the Humacao Fisherman Village with necessary repairs to strengthen their buildings. We have also been coordinating trade estimates for the various repairs necessary and lending expertise in building condition assessment, including structural engineering.

Voluntariados de Ingenieros

We have joined forces with Voluntariados de Ingenieros (https://en.ingenierospr.org/) to help with earthquake response effort. This partnership includes helping homeowners directly with virtual inspections and offering educational material to be delivered in short videos through social media. We are proud to contribute our expertise!

ARCo: Amplification, Resilience, Community

We are proud to introduce ARCo; Amplification, Resilience and Community – a new platform for collaborating organizations united by an interest in rebuilding a resilient Puerto Rico. Together, our mission is to educate communities on resilient housing through training, and to build exemplary homes embodying resilient strategies for earthquake victims. As this initiative evolves, we will share more details.