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S-286
NATURAL DISASTER STUDIES
An Investigative Series of the Committee on Natural Disasters
The Committee on Natural Disasters and its predecessors, dating back to the committee that studied the 1964 Alaska Earthquake, have conducted on-site studies and prepared reports reflecting their findings and recommendations on the mitigation of natural disaster effects. Objectives of the committee are to:
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record time-sensitive information immediately following disasters;
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provide guidance on how engineering and the social sciences can best be applied to the improvement of public safety;
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recommend research needed to advance the state of the art in the area of natural disaster reduction; and
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conduct special studies to address long-term issues in natural disasters, particularly issues of a multiple-hazard nature.
EDITOR
Riley M. Chung
National Research Council
EDITORIAL BOARD
Dennis S. Mileti, Chair Colorado State University Fort Collins |
Norbert S. Baer New York University New York, New York |
Earl J. Baker Florida State University Tallahassee |
Arthur N. L. Chiu University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu |
Hanna J. Cortner University of Arizona Tucson |
Peter Gergely Cornell University Ithaca, New York |
Joseph H. Golden National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Washington, D.C. |
Wilfred D. Iwan California Institute of Technology Pasadena |
Ahsan Kareem University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana |
Dale C. Perry Texas A&M University College Station |
William J. Petak University of Southern California Los Angeles |
Robert L. Schuster U.S. Geological Survey Denver, Colorado |
SPONSORING AGENCIES
Federal Emergency Management Agency
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Science Foundation
INVITATION FOR DISCUSSION
Materials presented in Natural Disaster Studies often contain observations and statements that inspire debate. Readers interested in contributing to the discussion surrounding any topic contained in the journal may do so in the form of a letter to the editor. Letters will be reviewed by the editorial board, and if considered appropriate, printed in subsequent issues of Natural Disaster Studies.
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL DISASTERS (1985–1990)
NORBERT S. BAER,
Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, New York
EARL J. BAKER,
Department of Geography, Florida State University, Tallahassee
ARTHUR N. L. CHIU,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu
HANNA J. CORTNER,
Water Resources Research Center, University of Arizona, Tucson
ROBERT G. DEAN,
Department of Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville
JOHN A. DRACUP,
Civil Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles
DANNY L. FREAD,
National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland
PETER GERGELY,
Department of Structural Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
JOSEPH H. GOLDEN,
Chief Scientist Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C.
WILFRED D. IWAN,
Department of Earthquake Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
AHSAN KAREEM,
Civil Engineering Department, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
T. WILLIAM LAMBE, Consultant,
Longboat Key, Florida
KISHOR C. MEHTA,
Institute for Disaster Research, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
DENNIS S. MILETI,
Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
JAMES K. MITCHELL,
Department of Geography, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
JOSEPH PENZIEN,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
DALE C. PERRY,
Department of Construction Science, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station
WILLIAM J. PETAK,
Institute of Safety and Systems Management, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
LESLIE E. ROBERTSON,
Leslie E. Robertson & Associates, New York, New York
ROBERT L. SCHUSTER,
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado
METE A. SOZEN,
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana
RANDALL G. UPDIKE,
Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
Staff
RILEY M. CHUNG, Director
EDWARD LIPP, Editor
SUSAN R. McCUTCHEN, Administrative Assistant
GREGORY A. MOCK, Editor
SHIRLEY J. WHITLEY, Project Assistant
Liaison Representatives
WILLIAM A. ANDERSON, Program Director,
Earthquake Systems Integration, Division of Biological and Critical Systems, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.
BRUCE A. BAUGHMAN,
Hazard Mitigation Branch, Public Assistance Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.
FRED COLE,
Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
ROBERT D. GALE (deceased),
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, D.C.
EDWARD M. GROSS, Chief,
Constituent Affairs and Industrial Meteorology Staff, National Weather Service, Silver Spring, Maryland
RICHARD J. HEUWINKEL, Senior Policy Analyst,
Office of Policy and Planning, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM HOOKE,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, D.C.
PAUL KRUMPE,
Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
J. E. SABADELL, Program Director,
Division of Biological and Critical Systems, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.
ALAN SWAN,
Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
GERALD F. WIECZOREK,
Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
ARTHUR J. ZEIZEL,
Office of Natural and Technological Hazards Programs, State and Local Programs and Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.
LAWRENCE W. ZENSINGER (alternate), Chief,
Office of Disaster Assistance Programs, State and Local Programs and Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks are due to the following individuals for their contributions to this report:
MIKE CARTER, Hazards Management Group, Inc., Washington, D.C.
NICK COLLINS, Florida Division of Emergency Management
GERALD C. CORCORAN, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Biloxi, Mississippi
GUY DAINES, Pinellas County Emergency Management, Florida
EMERY DAVIS, Building Official, City of Gulfport, Mississippi
Col. C. HILTON DUNN, JR., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama
CHARLES K. ELEUTERIUS, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
JIM GENESSEE, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency
MARTINO GEORGEN, SR., Building Official, City of Biloxi, Mississippi
Lt. D. H. GRIFFIN, Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, Mississippi
WADE GUICE, Harrison County Emergency Management, Mississippi
MICHAEL HESSIG, Former Graduate Student, Clemson University, South Carolina
JOHN HOLMES, Meteorology Department, NSTL, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
KENNETH LELAND, Former Graduate Student, Clemson University, South Carolina
RICHARD D. MARSHALL, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
DOUGLAS MASSENGALE, SR., Building Inspector, Mobile County, Alabama
JOHN MURDEN, Former Graduate Student, Clemson University, South Carolina
JAMES PIERCE, SR., Chief Building Inspector, Mobile County, Alabama
ROBERT PROFITT, Resident, Pascagoula, Mississippi
WILLIAM W. SCHROEDER, University of Alabama, Dauphin Island
GEORGE STRAUGHN, Baldwin County Emergency Management, Alabama
HANK TURK, Jackson County Emergency Management, Mississippi
ROSE YOUNG, Mobile County Emergency Management, Alabama
Preface
Hurricane Elena posed special problems for an unusually large section of the Gulf Coast well before it came ashore on September 2, 1985. Following an erratic and difficult-to-forecast course, the hurricane threatened a coastline from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Sarasota, Florida. Considerable wind damage occurred in this area to structures that were ostensibly designed to resist such extreme wind conditions.
From the beginning, the disaster survey team decided that it could best help mitigate future hurricane damage not only by compiling a catalog of hurricane structural damage and emergency response actions, but also by undertaking a more comprehensive study that carefully established the wind conditions in the storm, reviewed in depth the building control process used in the area, and conducted necessary structural and wind tunnel tests. Since similar design conditions and building control procedures exist along hurricane-prone coasts from Texas to South Carolina (with the exception of southern Florida), the conclusions drawn from such a detailed study of performance in Elena should be relevant to a very large number of buildings.
This approach went well beyond that followed in other disaster reports issued by the Committee on Natural Disasters and required considerable time and personal initiative on the part of the survey team members. It required several years to complete. In the meantime, relevant findings have been published as they have become available (for example, Sparks, 1987a and 1987b; Sparks and Saffir, 1989; Sparks and Singh, 1989). These findings have already been considered by a task committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers and have influenced the drafters of the Standard Building Code and the Uniform Building Code.