The National Institute of Standards and Technology will spearhead a federal program that aims to study wind behavior in a push to cut the risk of loss of life and property damage from windstorms.NIST said Tuesday the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program covers three long-term strategic goals along with 14 key objectives and seven research priorities that will help facilitate the implementation of the strategies.
“This plan maps out a pathway to better understand, assess the impact from, and protect against windstorms,” said Marc Levitan, acting NWIRP director at NIST.
NIST will collaborate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Science Foundation to coordinate research, development, implementation, education and outreach activities related to the windstorm impact reduction effort.
The Federal Highway Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Energy Department will also support efforts to understand windstorm processes and hazards, educate ground-level winds impact communities and increase community resilience to windstorms.
NIST on Tuesday released a public notice in the Federal Register to seek feedback from organizations and individuals on the draft NWIRP strategic plan.
The agency will gather public comments until May 15.
