Sifting Through The Debris: Determining Damages Following Catastrophic Natural Events

摘要

Evaluating buildings to determine the causes of structural damage can be difficult under the best of circumstances. When buildings or other structures have been significantly or completely destroyed during a catastrophic natural event, such as a hurricane or tornado, the difficulty of this task increases exponentially. Failure modes and pre-existing conditions are largely concealed by the debris or by displacement of the debris during subsequent cleanup operations. These conditions were frequently encountered by forensic engineers and architects following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and, more recently, the severe tornado outbreaks in the southeast in April of 2011. Determining pre-existing conditions and failure modes is critical to accurately evaluating the damages caused by a natural disaster. Such evaluations are vital to building owners and insurance companies alike.This paper presents several case studies from Mississippi and Alabama following Hurricane Katrina and the tornado activity in the spring of 2011. In these case studies, the authors will discuss clues found among the debris and areas surrounding the buildings that were used to identify causes of damages and conditions that existed prior to the event. In addition, the case studies will highlight the importance of using of sound engineering judgment and structural analyses in determining the causes of damages.