Post-Hurricane Investigations:  Quantifying Damage
 

Gregory L. F. Chiu
    Engineer, Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction

Sara Wadia-Fascetti
    Assistant Professor, Northeastern University

Mussa Hossein
    Graduate Student, Northeastern University
 

ABSTRACT

Damage due to hurricane winds has been observed and documented for more than 25 years; however, no attempt has been made to study quantitatively the damage that has occurred.  Damage and wind-borne debris have not been defined or quantified for many reasons including:

• The rapid documentation of perishable data requires investigators to record rapidly the damage at a site.  Owners of buildings often initiate cleanup efforts and make-shift repairs before obtaining building permits or filing insurance claims.  Therefore, to obtain the most data, investigators have been limited to performing cursory reviews of damaged structures.
• A standardized method of collecting and cataloguing data has not been established.
 

This lack of a quantitative definition of damage has prevented the development of a cohesive and unified approach towards mitigating the disastrous effects of extreme-wind events.  AFter each hurricane, many engineers decry the lack of proper load paths and proper construction, but more significant building deficiencies could possibly be identified by a proper documentation of hurricane-induced damage.

THis paper presents a definition for wind-induced damage that has been derived from an analysis of data obtained from a systematic damage survey following a recent hurricane.  The analysis of the data provides a first step in the study of wind-induced damage in a way that can lead to more accurate estimates of future damage and more effective methods to mitigate the expected losses.
 

Contact Information:

Prof. S. Wadia-Fascetti (swf@neu.edu)
Dept. of Civil & Env. Engineering
Northeastern University
Boston, MA  02115

Reference:

Chiu, G. C., Wadia-Fascetti, S., and Hossein†, M. (1996) “Post-Hurricane Investigations:  Quantifying Damage.”  ASCE Specialty Conference: Natural Disaster Reduction.  December 1996.  pp.  74-75.

 
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