@article {bnh-4230, title = {Severe wind hazard preliminary assessment: Tropical Cyclone Debbie, Whitsunday Coast, Queensland, Australia}, year = {2017}, month = {03/2017}, institution = {James Cook University}, address = {Townsville}, abstract = {

Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie was a category 4 system that made landfall near Airlie Beach (Figure 1) on the north Queensland coast at midday on the 28th of March, 2017. As part of a continuing effort to better characterize wind fields that impact communities during severe wind events, the Cyclone Testing Station (with collaborators from the Wind Research Laboratory at The University of Queensland) deployed SWIRLnet (Surface Weather Relay and Logging Network) weather stations to the region prior to Debbie{\textquoteright}s landfall. Six SWIRLnet towers (3.2 m high anemometers placed in the communities likely to be affected) collected data continuously prior to, during and after landfall. Three towers were deployed in the Ayr/Home Hill region, two in Bowen and one in Proserpine (Figure 2). This Preliminary Assessment Report details the initial observations from these towers, compares these with Bureau of Meteorology Automatic Weather Station observations, and makes some preliminary comment on the damage to structures in stormaffected communities.

}, url = {https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/422951/TC-Debbie-Rapid-Assessment-Report_v8.pdf}, author = {Thomas Kloetzke and Korah Parackal and D. J. Smith and Richard Krupar III and Leblais, Alex and Humphreys, M and Spassiani, Alessio and M. S. Mason and David Roueche and David O Prevatt and David Henderson and Boughton, Geoffrey N.} } @article {bnh-2507, title = {A vulnerability assessment tool for residential structures and extreme wind events}, year = {2015}, abstract = {

Studies of hurricane damage to residential buildings confirm that the risk of wind and/or water damage related losses can be mitigated via retrofit solutions. However, adoption of appropriate retrofits by homeowners has been limited despite its obvious benefits. For several reasons, including high cost of retrofitting, the practical difficulty of implementing upgrades, and other homeowner priorities, the level of structural retrofits remain low. This paper proposes a performance-based design approach to retrofitting, targeted for residential homeowners (and their construction team) to advise on incremental retrofits that ultimately result in desired performance targets for windresistant houses. To specifically engage the homeowner, a user-friendly smartphone application is developed that evaluates the wind resistance and vulnerability of existing homes. The app provides each homeowner an individualized vulnerability assessment, while engaging and educating them on the effects of structural systems and building characteristics on damage and on the options for retrofits and costs associated with the work. The vulnerability assessment is determined using a database of fragility curves, developed originally for the FEMA{\textquoteright}s HAZUS-MH program, and adapted for this use. The analysis yields the top three recommended retrofits for each house as-is, and its expected hurricane-induced economic losses compared against the predicted loss if all the retrofits were conducted. Beta trials of the mobile app will be conducted in at-risk coastal communities in Florida, USA. The authors suggest that direct engagement of homeowners in identifying wind mitigation techniques and solutions may yield more positive outcomes than traditional communication approach and it may eventually increase the number of building retrofits.

}, author = {Daniel Smith and David Roueche and Austin P Thompson and David O Prevatt} }