Hurricane damage classification methodology and fragility functions derived from Hurricane Sandy's effects in coastal New Jersey

Regional-scale and local damage surveys of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast were performed after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. A satellite-based analysis of over 15,000 houses within one block of the New Jersey, Long Island, and Staten Island coastlines showed a strong correlation between destruction and poststorm dune heights. A detailed survey in Ocean County, New Jersey, classified 380 homes into seven damage states to different subassemblies. A phase-resolving Boussinesq-Green-Naghdi wave model simulating the strongest hour of the storm was used to evaluate hydrodynamics at each residence. Maximum computed water surface elevations were found to differ strongly from standard depth-limited assumptions. A vulnerability model to diagnose the damage state of a coastal residence subject to storm conditions identified maximum water velocity and relative shielding as critical predictors of damage. Improved hydrodynamic models that can efficiently compute the complex flow interactions with structures may provide more reliable damage prediction in coastal communities.