Houston, We Have A Problem

Preparing parking gate control barriers for severe weather

I was supposed to be in Houston, Texas to consult with a hospital client, but Hurricane Harry had other plans for me. When I called to let my client know that all flights into Houston had been cancelled, we started discussing their preparations for the hurricane.

“We’ve raised all the parking gate control barrier arms,” they said. Thinking that was sufficient preparation. If allowing access to the parking structure was the only safety consideration, then just raising the gates would be fine. But my concern was about the gate being torn off during the hurricane and becoming a deadly flying object that could kill someone or damage something.

Hurricane Harvey swept through southeastern Texas, reaching a Category 4 status with wind speeds up to 130 mph. Most gates are not designed to stand up to that level of wind stress. With severe weather like this, the safest preparation is to remove all gate arms from the access control units. This eliminates any possibility of liability.