TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing the vulnerability of structures and residential communities to storm surge
T2 - An analysis of flood impact during hurricane sandy
AU - Hatzikyriakou, Adam
AU - Lin, Ning
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) grant EAR-1520683 and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Climate Preparedness and Resilience Program with administrative support from Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). The authors would like to thank Dr. Andrew Kennedy for his helpful insights and suggestions.
PY - 2018/2/6
Y1 - 2018/2/6
N2 - With 6.5 million households in the United States located in areas prone to storm surge, assessing the vulnerability of structures and residential communities to coastal flooding is an important concern. Of particular interest is understanding how the performance of structures during surge events is influenced by flood conditions, coastal defenses, and building design at both the house and community level. This study presents such a vulnerability analysis by investigating the impact of coastal flooding from Hurricane Sandy (2012) on 95 km of developed coastline across New Jersey and New York. Exterior structural damage observed from a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aerial survey of the study area is related to (1) a hindcast simulation of flood inundation and wave action, (2) a classification of coastal defenses and storm-induced erosion, and (3) minimum building design elevations specified in FEMA’s flood hazard mapping. Findings indicate that the hardest hit communities experienced significant dune erosion, which coincided with severe flood and wave exposure. Furthermore, structures were considerably more susceptible to flood impact if Sandy’s flood level exceeded FEMA’s 100-year Base Flood Elevation dictating building design. These results are quantified by developing fragility curves relating both house and community-level performance to the considered vulnerability parameters. Findings from this study can be used to inform decision making for improving coastal resilience.
AB - With 6.5 million households in the United States located in areas prone to storm surge, assessing the vulnerability of structures and residential communities to coastal flooding is an important concern. Of particular interest is understanding how the performance of structures during surge events is influenced by flood conditions, coastal defenses, and building design at both the house and community level. This study presents such a vulnerability analysis by investigating the impact of coastal flooding from Hurricane Sandy (2012) on 95 km of developed coastline across New Jersey and New York. Exterior structural damage observed from a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aerial survey of the study area is related to (1) a hindcast simulation of flood inundation and wave action, (2) a classification of coastal defenses and storm-induced erosion, and (3) minimum building design elevations specified in FEMA’s flood hazard mapping. Findings indicate that the hardest hit communities experienced significant dune erosion, which coincided with severe flood and wave exposure. Furthermore, structures were considerably more susceptible to flood impact if Sandy’s flood level exceeded FEMA’s 100-year Base Flood Elevation dictating building design. These results are quantified by developing fragility curves relating both house and community-level performance to the considered vulnerability parameters. Findings from this study can be used to inform decision making for improving coastal resilience.
KW - Base Flood Elevation
KW - Community
KW - Dune
KW - Federal Emergency Management Agency
KW - Flood
KW - Hurricane Sandy
KW - Storm surge
KW - Structural vulnerability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059879071&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85059879071&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fbuil.2018.00004
DO - 10.3389/fbuil.2018.00004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059879071
SN - 2297-3362
VL - 4
JO - Frontiers in Built Environment
JF - Frontiers in Built Environment
M1 - 4
ER -