Disaster Resilience

A man in safety gear crouches to examine a damaged wall inside a building after an earthquake.

The Highs and Lows of Studying the Aftermath of One of Turkey’s Deadliest Earthquakes

November 15, 2023

Our goal at NIST is to not only document and learn from disasters, but to also spur innovation and make recommendations to help lessen the impact of the next

Camila Espina Young poses outdoors for a head shot

Hurricane Maria Recollections, Software Nostalgia, The Brothers Engineering: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

November 9, 2022

The work happening at NIST can often be described as more than simply “work.”

The sun rises over a green marsh with an open channel of water running through.

In a Changing Climate, Resilience Research Can Help Communities ‘Make Decisions for a Better Future’

March 8, 2022

Climate change keeps NIST economist Jennifer Helgeson up at night. Not with worry, but with work. For the last several weeks, Helgeson was working on the latest

NIST’s Investigations of Structural Disasters: What We Do and Why They Can Take Years to Complete

March 23, 2022

My Background in Disasters It seems as though I was born to be a disaster researcher. I can vividly remember seeking shelter during tornado warnings in the

Close-up of a map showing a city called Lumberton

The Trials and Triumphs of a Small City’s Hurricane Recovery Could Help Other Communities Bounce Back

January 19, 2022

In September 2018, a North Carolina city’s long road to recovery from Hurricane Matthew two years earlier became even longer. Lumberton, a small but diverse

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

February 2, 2021

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program to inspire undergraduate students

Resilient Cedar Rapids: Rebuilding Better Pays Off

August 12, 2020

Many cities in the United States have experienced or will experience devastating losses caused by a natural disaster. In the aftermath of a disaster, the

Improving the Quality of Life through Smart Cities and Internet of Things Innovation

June 11, 2019

How It All Started Six years ago, I joined the U.S. federal government as a Presidential Innovation Fellow. The White House established the program to bring in

Before the Storm: Measuring and Predicting Hurricanes

June 5, 2018

The Atlantic hurricane season is now upon us, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just released its 2018 seasonal hurricane

Men working at construction site with wood planks on ground and gray house dangling in air by crane

Building Codes, Planning Key to Community Resilience

September 21, 2016

“Buildings built to the most modern building codes were the safest places to be during Hurricane Sandy.” Having spent most of my life in code enforcement, I’ve

Smoke Signals: Ensuring the Clarity of Emergency Communications

September 9, 2016

If you’ve ever used a device that picks up signals over the air, you know that sometimes you just can’t get the signal to come in clearly. You point the device

Resilience Rises from Tragedy in Joplin

May 31, 2016

The May 22, 2011, tornado in Joplin, Mo., rated an EF-5—the most powerful ranking—on the Enhanced Fujita tornado intensity scale. It caused 161 fatalities and

Smart Cities: Bringing Tech Benefits Directly to You

March 25, 2016

Earlier this week at NIST, we brought together a diverse group of people who will have a profound influence on the future of our cities and the services

Taking Measure