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Tracings: 90.55.01 (1992 Andrew), 95.01.
The nation will remember 2004 as a record-setting year in terms of presidential disaster declarations and administered disaster aid. In 2004, President Bush issued 68 disaster declarations of which 27 were due to hurricanes. Time and again the U.S. was impacted by hurricane force winds and waves that damaged cities and small towns in 15 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Of all the regions that endured the hurricane season, the State of Florida bore the brunt of the record-setting storms as Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne tested the federal and state fortitude in disaster response and recovery. Communities were devastated as wind and water damage from the four storms battered residential, commercial, industrial, and public facilities. Disaster assistance totaling more than $4.4 billion was approved for Floridians, and to date, 1.24 million storm victims have applied for federal and state assistance (FEMA 2005b). The financial impact of the season will likely exceed $20 billion, according to preliminary loss estimates from the Insurance Services Office's Property Claim Services (PCS). The four hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004 were all significant events; however, the hurricanes were each distinctive in terms of their wind and water action and resulting damages. The first of these, Charley (designated a Category 4), was the first design level wind event to strike the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Andrew (1992) and caused more wind damage than flood damage. Frances (Category 2) and Jeanne (Category 3), while not as strong as Charley, were still very damaging hurricanes resulting in additional wind damage. Hurricane Ivan delivered not only strong winds (Category 3), but also caused significant flood damage to buildings and other structures, even those built above the 100-year flood elevation. The impact of the four hurricanes was intensified by their back-to-back occurrence; three of the hurricanes followed similar paths or had overlapping damage swaths. Frances and Jeanne followed almost identical paths across Florida from the east coast (around Port St. Lucie) to the west coast (north of Tampa area). These two very wide storms crossed the path of Charley (which traveled west to east) in central Florida creating an overlap of impacted areas in Orange, Osceola, Polk, and Hardee counties. As a result of these overlapping impact swaths, damage resulting from the later hurricanes (Frances and Jeanne) was difficult to distinguish from earlier damage caused by Charley. For instance, roofs that failed during Frances or Jeanne may have been weakened or damaged by Charley and more prone to failure. For this reason, most of the recommendations and conclusions contained in this report are based on observations made after Hurricanes Charley and Ivan and are supported by observations made after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. Following Hurricanes Charley and Ivan, the FEMA Mitigation Assessment Teams (MATs) performed field observations to determine how well buildings in Florida and Alabama performed under stresses caused by the storms' wind and water impacts. A Rapid Response Data Collection Team performed field observations after Hurricane Frances that focused on critical and essential facilities; however an assessment was not performed after Jeanne, because Jeanne and Frances impacted a similar region. Overall, the MAT observed building performance success in structural systems designed and built after Hurricane Andrew. This Summary Report focuses on the ongoing need for improvement in building performance.
This book explores how social, economic and political factors set the stage for Hurricane Andrew by influencing who was prepared, who was hit the hardest, and who was most likely to recover. Employing unique research data the authors analyze the consequences of conflict and competition on disaster preparation, response and recovery, especially where associated with race, ethnicity and gender.
Reviews the types of benefits that can accrue to different segments of society from natural hazard mitigative measures, the types of costs that can be incurred by undertaking the actions, and the types of analyses needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness associated with the mitigation measure.
The North Carolina Shore and Its Barrier Islands is the latest volume in the series, Living with the Shore. Replacing an earlier volume, this thoroughly new book provides a diverse guide to one of America's most popular shorelines. As is true for all books in the series, it is based on the premise that understanding the changing nature of beaches and barrier islands is essential if we are to preserve them for future generations. Evidence that the North Carolina shore is changing is never hard to find, but recently the devastation wrought by Hurricane Fran and the perilous situation of the historic lighthouse at Cape Hatteras have reminded all concerned of the fragility of this coast. Arguing for a policy of intelligent development, one in which residential and commercial structures meet rather than confront the changing nature of the shore, the authors have included practical information on hazards of many kinds--storms, tides, floods, erosion, island migration, and earthquakes. Diagrams and photographs clearly illustrate coastal processes and aid in understanding the impact of hurricanes and northeasters, wave and current dynamics, as well as pollution and other environmental destruction due to overdevelopment. A chapter on estuaries provides related information on the shores of back barrier areas that are growing in popularity for recreational residences. Risk maps focus on the natural hazards of each island and together with construction guidelines provide a basis for informed island management. Lastly, the dynamics of coastal politics and management are reviewed through an analysis of the controversies over the decision to move the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and a proposed effort to stabilize Oregon Inlet. From the natural and historic perspective of the opening chapters to the regional discussions of individual barrier islands, this book is both a primer on coastal processes for the first time visitor as well as a guide to hazard identification for property owners.