​In May of 2020, the mid-Michigan dam failures devastated several communities, and eight months later, many residents, businesses, schools, and organizations are still picking up the pieces. One of those affected was Windover High School in Midland, a specialized high school that accommodates teens who often experience homelessness, abuse, and neglect. The school has a food pantry, shower for students, and a basic needs pantry (clothes, chap stick, deodorant, etc.). They even have a laundry so students can wash their clothes at school if needed.

In May, 90% of their library was washed away. The water was almost four feet high in their building and their books were housed on short book shelves. They did receive many generous donations, however some of the books were not geared toward teens.
 
NTH Consultants, Ltd. works and lives in the communities affected by this flooding and when we heard of the need for replacement materials and books for the Windover library, we knew we had to help. NTH hosted a book drive in our Northville office, and despite many still working virtually, our staff really came through. We filled a cargo van full of books and drove to them to Grace A Dow Memorial Library who is coordinating the book donations.

​We were proud to be able to give hundreds of books to help restock the shelves in the Windover High School. NTH appreciates the effort and generosity of our staff members who are always ready to help others in need. 

​As our partner Spackman, Mossop, Michaels experienced and lived through at their office location in New Orleans, Louisiana during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the disaster is not so much the weather-related event(s) of the hurricane and subsequent flooding, but in the failures of the community to be adequately prepared and engineered to handle a potential climate event. As Elizabeth Mossop detailed in her recent article, building resilient communities is not just about armoring, leveeing, and walling, but re-thinking our previous mindset for handling stormwater and floodwaters, taking advantage of more natural processes for management and conveyance. 

​Similarly, as experienced in Texas, energy reliability is at the top of the list in making a more fortified community. System redundancy is key to ensuring that the inevitable disruption of service is minimized after a natural disaster, reducing long-term concerns and getting an area back on its feet quickly. Microgrids, which de-centralize power production and distribution to allow an area to isolate from the grid and be self-sufficient is one strategy for electrical system redundancy.  Instead of large power generation stations and distribution networks, microgrids move to a more localized energy production system, minimizing large-scale disruptions in the event of significant power outages. For instance, Tesla, with their advancements in solar generation and Powerwall battery storage systems, are part of a microgrid solution.