As Hurricane Melissa made landfall this week as a category five storm, it serves as a stark reminder to the construction industry to always be prepared, even at the end of storm season.
Along Florida’s 8,436 miles of shoreline, residents face a persistent threat: hurricanes and the often catastrophic damage these natural weather events inflict. Come late summer and autumn, meteorologist forecasts transition from sun and clear skies to overcast days, high winds and heavy rainfall that signal disaster may be afoot.
The state’s construction industry is particularly sensitive to volatile weather patterns, with real estate developments at high risk of destruction if hurricanes cross their path. And with each significant weather event, the losses are substantial. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there were nearly 100 disaster events in Florida with financial losses exceeding $1 billion each between 1980 and 2024.
As the intensity and frequency of weather-related disasters increases, it’s crucial for general contractors and developers to prioritize hurricane preparedness. Not only as a matter of protecting asset value, but to ensure the safety of those working on the ground to execute these large-scale builds—superintendents, project managers and field teams. Beyond the building itself, people are owed a sense of security while working on jobsites, which is why creating a system of safeguards that shields both humans and the built environment is one of the most important aspects of storm preparedness.
Treating preparation not as a checkbox, but as a critical part of building responsibly year-round effectively puts the interests of people involved at the forefront and ultimately mitigates the impact storms have on their livelihoods. Clear communication, empowered teams and a culture of readiness protect the assets and the people inside them.
PLANNING FOR A STORM
Even among seasoned general contractors and owners, the most common gap in storm preparedness is the lack of an actionable plan. Without one, the room for error is vast and leaves the project and construction team vulnerable. Crafting a purposeful game plan to be deployed at the ready is the first step in ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for onsite workers at risk of storm interference.
To get ahead of potential issues following a major hurricane or other disaster, beginning the planning process early is critical. At Ryan Companies, we have created a 13-page hurricane protocol strategy that is reissued to our teams every year around May that covers early-stage awareness, job site shutdowns and everything in-between. This enables us to disseminate the information necessary to secure the job site and prevent any ill impacts to staff well before hurricane season sets in.
This plan should denote what employees should do as soon as a storm is forecasted to touch down in the path of a construction site, how to keep the project and the team out of harm’s way during the storm and advises on post-storm recovery tactics. Exit routes, emergency equipment uses and evacuation processes should all be outlined in the plan, as well.
Advanced emergency preparedness enables teams to build in the time needed to reassess risks and ensure everyone understands best practices in navigating weather threats. Start early, because storms don’t always give you a week’s notice, and the time it takes to implement a plan is often underestimated.
If you’ve prepared correctly right, the day before a storm isn’t a scramble. It’s a controlled wrap-up, with everyone getting home in time to take care of what matters most.
PREPPING THE PROJECT SITE
Going hand-in-hand with informing employees about storm readiness is preparing the jobsite to withstand damage, especially as the most costly aspects of the storm come after the sun reemerges, including delays, shortages and increased costs. If a team is able to quickly mobilize to protect the project site ahead of a storm, that could be the difference between minimal damage and more substantial impacts.
Arming employees with a rundown of how to secure an active project site is a key element of hurricane preparedness. Among the strategies for protecting the site include removing airborne features, tying down trailers, clearing evacuation pathways, covering all exterior openings, and minimizing water and wind intrusion by placing sandbags around the property.
Using these proactive tactics helps avoid any significant damage to a project site and surrounding properties, as well as any OSHA violations, when a category 3 hurricane swept through a Southwest Florida jobsite where we had an office build underway. With the issued safety protocol, on-the-ground teams will feel well-prepared to secure the site, which keeps them safe and allows for evasion of serious damage to the project—or any persons.
THE PAST INFORMS THE FUTURE
With each natural disaster, new learnings are given that teach us how to take better care for the next one. Following a storm, take account of the effectiveness of the preparedness plan and make adjustments where needed if there are any holes in the approach. As storms heighten in occurrence and losses mount, safety protocols may need to be reinforced at regular intervals during the year to ensure they remain top of mind.
The type of weather the world is experiencing today gives the construction industry quite a bit of intel on how to navigate increasingly powerful storms that pose greater danger to people. Builders need to be asking the right questions as they embark on new projects. How can this development be constructed in a more resilient way? What emerging technologies can be leveraged to make jobsite operations less exposed to storm risks? Are teams receiving adequate instruction on these risks and how to circumvent the long-term issues hurricanes and other natural disasters can present?
Another busy hurricane season is almost in the rearview. Evaluate what worked and didn’t from this year, and take stock of what should be incorporated into future preparedness plans to keep your people protected. Buildings can always be rebuilt and materials replaced, but people can’t.
