Hurricane Recovery Team

Hurricane Recovery Team Weather Satellite

THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

LETTER FROM
OUR DIRECTOR

ABOUT HURRICANE
RECOVERY TEAM

DISTINCT TYPES
OF DAMAGE

Letter from Our Director Emeritus

Dear Prospective Client

Thank you for this opportunity to introduce HRT and explain how our services help many owners and condominium associations.

As the former Launch Vehicle Systems Manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (the nation’s effort to facilitate the safe transportation of NASA astronauts), my 37 years project management and engineering integration experience will be put to good use as HRT directs a full analysis of your property for both catastrophic and fatigue damages associated with the recent hurricane.

I have extensive experience with the detrimental effects of extreme environments on all types of hardware and materials. Hurricane damage identification and quantification may not be “rocket science” but the expertise involved sure helps!

The Scientific Approach forms the foundation of our damage investigation and our recommended action plan. We are the only firm utilizing a large chamber electron microscope to assist with the fatigue mechanics analysis in the world.

If you engage HRT as your owner’s representative, I promise our best effort in project management providing a state-of-the-art forensic investigation of your buildings, complete with an action plan to restore your property, from start to finish.

Look forward to working together soon!

David Martin - Founder

Jolene Martin Founder

With 35 years of NASA technical, programmatic, supervisal and managerial position experience, Jolene is well suited to ensure HRT’s clients have the most qualified and capable Team at their Service.

Jolene has the technical expertise to understand the fundamental engineering principles involved when hurricane forces impact a structure.

The damage caused by the magnitude of the forces and the thousands of cycles is a whole engineering discipline known as fatigue mechanics.

A large portion of Jolene’s NASA career was devoted to Technical Supervision & Management. Jolene’s HRT leadership role involves much more than engineering forensics.

Jolene nurtures and builds the relationships that are required to deliver to the client reports and conclusions that can be relied upon and trusted for even the most important decisions.

Jolene Martin – Relevant Links:

The Scientific Approach

Hurricane Recovery Team represents YOU as the owner’s representative and project manager from start to finish.

HRT starts with a visual inspection of a representative sample of units in your buildings. We look at the roof, the exterior building envelope including windows and doors, any evidence of interior water intrusion, and common areas.

If our forensic experts identify suspected recent hurricane damage the client typically engages HRT to provide a full scientific analysis of the building.

Once engaged, HRT becomes the owner’s representative/project manager throughout the entire process of identifying, documenting, and restoring your damaged property.

Our Project Managers coordinate the engineers, contractors, estimators and forensic experts. We prepare a comprehensive document explaining our conclusions. Our documentation package will include the individual reports prepared by the forensic experts, an engineer’s estimate or proposals written by commercial contractors, and hundreds of photographs detailing the damage.

We invest our time, money, and resources and bring together the top professionals in the field to identify, document, and estimate hurricane damage to your property.

ELITE COLLABORATION

Hurricane Recovery Team’s Project Management Service is an elite collaboration of the following

Our Clients

Our clients encompass a broad spectrum of Condominiums and Commercial properties throughout the hurricane affected area

Hurricane Recovery Team’s clients are numerous throughout South Florida with over ten thousand property owners being assisted..

Please consider including HRT in your recovery team as it is extremely important to have hurricane forensic experts document any damage.

Distinct types of Damage

Doors and windows flex from the direct wind pressures applied to them as well as the global movement of the building frame. This causes lateral displacement of the glazing frames and glass inward and outward during the hours of applied wind forces.

This excessive number of cycles causes fatigue to affect window and doors assemblies. The movement of the glazing causes sealants and gaskets to rupture. The movement of the frames causes the frames to bend and the existing components to weaken. Fatigue mechanics substantially reduces the structural integrity of doors and windows.

This in essence has reduced the ability of the doors and windows to survive future hurricane events as well as stop the building from taking on water during typical rain storms.

Frame Separation

Catastrophic Sliding Glass Door Failure

Frame Movement

Ingested Gasket

Knowledge is Power

The foundation of The Scientific Approach is data: The meteorology report for the site the day of the event; The wind loads and forces; The lateral movement; The compromised building components: The Venturi Effect from nearby buildings; The pressure cycles; The duration of the event; The peak loading; The location; The types of damage; The age of the damage; Evidence of water intrusion; etc.

Hurricane forensic engineers base their conclusions from the totality of the data. Condominiums should obtain their own expert analysis.

HRT stands ready to assist with a no cost preliminary report, with photographs, that synthesizes the work of the experts and translates their findings into a concise description of any damages identified.

Why is a Benchmark So Important?

Over the past one hundred years, twenty five hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or above — the threshold of a major hurricane — have reached Florida.

Some of these Category 3, 4, or 5 storms you’ll likely remember: Andrew, Charlie, Jean, Wilma, Irma, and in 2018 Hurricane Michael.

In Florida statistically speaking it is not a matter of if but simply a matter of when a significant hurricane event is going to cause massive damage.

HRT strongly recommends every owner take advantage of our no cost offer to inspect and document the current property condition establishing a Benchmark.

A Benchmark documents the conditions that exist before the event so it is particularly useful as properties are subject to multiple events over the years.

Since properties in South Florida were recently impacted by Hurricane Irma, owners should inspect and document the condition now before another event strikes. HRT offers condominium associations this much needed Benchmark service for no cost.

Hurricane Ian $84 Billion in damages surpassing even Hurricane Irma. $60 billion in Fl alone.

On Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa in southwestern Florida as a dangerous, high-end Category 4 storm after plowing a path of destruction through the Caribbean, bringing particularly heavy rainfall and dangerous surf to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and western Cuba.

HRT Expert Inspection

Hurricane Ian caused an estimated $60 billion in damage in Florida, surpassing even Hurricane Irma as the costliest storm in Florida history. Many condominiums in South Florida suffered damage. Some of that damage is not apparent to a layperson, but it could significantly compromise the structural integrity of a building, particularly the windows and roof. Common signs are wind and water leakage, windows that are more difficult or impossible to open, and cracks around a window frame.

Some condominiums already may have submitted a claim to their insurance company, which told them that they either have no damage, or that the damage does not exceed their deductible.

Condominiums should obtain their own expert analysis. Insurance companies have a simple business plan. They make money by collecting premiums and not paying claims. If each insurer pays its fair share of the $60 billion in damage that Hurricane Ian caused, it will be a serious blow to its bottom line. As a result, the insurance companies’ adjusters have an incentive to overlook non-obvious damage, particularly when it could be costly to repair.

HRT has assembled the best hurricane damage experts from around the country to examine condominiums for storm damage from Hurricane Ian, at no cost to the condominium. Our experts will examine the property, identify any hurricane damage using well established and scientifically sound methods, and provide a report documenting any damage and the cost to repair it, which you can use to make your insurance company pay for those repairs.

If HRT finds hurricane damage, it has assembled a team of experienced professionals who can perform all necessary work. It also can refer you to the best attorneys with an unparalleled track record of making insurance companies pay for covered hurricane damage. These attorneys will take cases for a contingency fee, meaning that they only get paid if they recover money from the insurance company. They also will co-counsel with your current condominium attorney, ensuring that you have advice from trusted advisor at every stage of any proceedings.

The opportunity HRT offers has no downside for condominiums. A condominium pays nothing unless it learns that it has covered storm damage, decides to pursue the claim, and recovers money from its insurance company. If HRT’s experts find covered storm damage, your condominium learns that the building has potential vulnerabilities that should be fixed and a valuable insurance claim. If no damage is found, HRT will provide a report that the condominium can use to guard against any attempt by insurance company to claim that damage from a later storm was pre-existing. Either way, HRT and its experts leave every condominium better off.

News Links

The Hurricane Recovery Team

David Martin

Director Emeritus

As the former Launch Vehicle Systems Manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (the nation’s effort to facilitate the safe transportation of NASA astronauts), my 37 years project management and engineering integration experience will be put to good use as HRT directs a fullanalysis of your property for both catastrophic and fatigue damages associated with the recent hurricane.

Jolene Martin

Director Emeritus

Jolene Martin is a 35 year NASA veteran and truly is a rocket scientist. A large portion of Jolene’s NASA career was devoted to Technical Supervision & Management. Jolene is well suited to ensure HRT’s clients have the most qualified and capable Team at their Service. Jolene’s HRT leadership role involves nurturing and building the relationships that are required to deliver to the client reports and conclusions that can be relied upon and trusted for even the most important decisions.

Jordan Markofsky

Regional Manager

Jordan is HRT’s Regional Manager for the State of Florida. He began his career at HRT as an intern while studying at George Washington University. Jordan holds a Master’s in Engineering Management (MEM) from Columbia University. As a Mechanical Engineer, he is able to explain both HRT’s beneficial services and HRT’s Scientific Approach method of providing those services. Jordan works closely with technical experts, Engineers of Record, attorneys, project managers, manufacturers, and contractors to ensure the clients’ interests are best represented. Jordan grew up and lived in the South Florida area for over twenty years.