-- Percival W. Dyer II, founder of Timbuktu's Cornerstone, said the New York-based construction and community development organization is moving to expand its flood and tornado protection technology nationwide, with a stated goal of reaching properties along the U.S. East Coast, West Coast, Gulf South, and tornado-affected regions of the Midwest. The company is also targeting Puerto Rico as its first international market.
Photo Courtesy of Gökhan Kara
The United States ranks second globally in total natural disaster frequency, and flood damage alone costs the country between $180 billion and $496 billion annually. With severe weather continuing to affect coastal and inland communities, the company is developing two structural protection devices: one focused on flood mitigation and the other on tornado resistance.
The flood protection concept centers on a mechanism that can elevate a building to protect it from water damage, a process the company founder, Percival W. Dyer II, describes as being activated with a single switch. The approach differs from existing industry methods, in which construction companies manually raise homes onto new timber framing in response to flood risk.
Homeowners, insurance carriers, local and state governments, federal agencies, and the automobile sector are prospective stakeholders for the technology, according to Dyer. The company is currently in the prototype development stage, with a working demonstration model identified as its next step.
Dyer previously served as APEC Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State during the 2001 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Shanghai, China. In that role, Dyer coordinated documentation and briefing materials for President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell. He also served as an intern at the U.S. Department of Justice during Attorney General Janet Reno's tenure and as Security Guard Captain at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"I'd like to build from the bottom up and give other people a unique opportunity to have businesses of their own," Dyer said in a 2022 televised interview. "We all aspire to have the American Dream, but we are lagging behind in certain respects. So to level that playing field, I decided to start this company."
Beyond its disaster resilience product line, Timbuktu's Cornerstone operates as an umbrella organization connecting Black-owned businesses and supporting the economic rebuilding of historically prosperous Black commercial districts across the country. The organization plans to engage communities through events, training, and marketing campaigns targeting Black fraternities, sororities, and entrepreneurs nationwide.
The company’s next step is to complete a working demonstration model for its flood protection system. Continued storm and flood damage across coastal and inland communities has drawn greater attention to construction methods aimed at reducing property loss for residential, commercial, and public-sector use.
About
Timbuktu's Cornerstone is a New York-based startup operating across the construction and community economic development sectors. The organization is developing automated structural protection devices for flood and tornado mitigation while also serving as a resource network for Black-owned businesses rebuilding and sustaining economically disadvantaged communities across the United States.
Contact Info:
Name: Percival W. Dyer II
Email: Send Email
Organization: Timbuktu's Cornerstone
Address: Suffolk County, New York
Website: https://careerwebfolio.com/percivaldyer/
Release ID: 89188769
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