WIND GUST PHENOMENA ON AN INDUSTRIAL FACILITY DURING HURRICANE GUSTAV

摘要

An industrial facility near Baton Rouge, LA experienced significant damage from Hurricane Gustav. Observed damage patterns indicated that a localized gust resulted in damage to sections of the facility that were disproportionately higher than to the remainder of the facility. One of the wind speed data sources available was a local meteorological tower which measured an equivalent 3-second wind gust of 70 miles per hour (mph at 10 meters). The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - Hurricane Research Division experimental product H~*WIND estimated a 3-second gust of 62 mph for the site. However, after a careful examination of all the data sources and structural analysis, it was estimated that the probable peak wind speed experienced in a section of the facility was at least 80 miles per hour. The latter implies that the damage observed at the facility was produced by a gust factor that was on the order of 15% larger than the average gust estimated for non-hurricane regions.