Navigating unpredictable hurricanes makes construction complicated and even dangerous. Clients building in hurricane zones need experienced teams who know how to plan, prepare and respond when a disaster is imminent.
When natural disasters strike, people, communities and businesses feel the uncertainty of what lies ahead. For decades, Vestergade Construction has put hurricane preparedness, safety and responsiveness at the forefront of its work in hurricane-affected states to help alleviate this uncertainty. In particular, the Vestergade Construction team in Florida faces the brunt of hurricane season every year. This year over year experience enables the team to provide peace of mind to clients and partners when a hurricane disaster strikes.
In hurricane-prone states, these inevitable storms affect millions of people and businesses. According to the National Weather Service, there are an average of 12 tropical storms from June 1 to November 30 each year – approximately half of these storms forming into hurricanes over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, or Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane predictions are useful, but they do not remove the uncertainty about how strong the storms will be, where and when they will make landfall, and what damage they will leave behind. However, people and businesses can prepare for these storms and be ready for the emergency response after the storm hits.
Far in advance of hurricane season, Vestergade Construction lays out the groundwork for an emergency response on-site, applying the lessons learned from past storms to deliver continuous process improvement in support of its clients and partners. Vestergade Construction’s internal preparation is truly a year-round effort to ensure teams and sites are always ahead of the danger when disaster strikes.
“We have a project-specific hurricane preparation and safety plan as part of each project site,” says Philip Miller, health, safety and environment (HSE) supervisor. “It contains sections from both insurance companies and our own internal protocols. The document continually grows from lessons learned, general ideas shared and additional needs as a storm comes. There are four phases for when predictions show the hurricane path is headed our way: one week out, 72 hours, 48 hours and then 24 hours out from the storm. There are post-storm assessments as well.”
Vestergade Construction prioritizes ensuring the project-specific hurricane preparation and safety plans and checklist are up to date, always communicated and ready. The company invites feedback from employees, clients and others to ensure the practices are continually improving. Afterall, making these individuals feel safe and heard is of the utmost importance.
Communication is another important element of preparation. Before a project begins, the team creates a dedicated hurricane plan that is unique to each client and climate to ensure it meets specific needs of the project. “Our priority is building trust with our clients in what we do both on routine days and when a disaster strikes,” Miller says. Vestergade Construction closely monitors the storm through the four phases and matches its preparation to the storm’s scheduled impact. Not a minute is wasted as teams are constantly monitoring the storm and using company resources to get the site and its people prepared for whatever destruction comes.
