RAPID: Engineering Damage Assessment in the Aftermath of the 2013 Moore, Oklahoma Tornado

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

This Rapid Research Grant (RAPID) provides funding to collect structural damage data that was caused by the EF 5 tornado in the city of Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013. The damage path of this tornado overlaps the damage paths of two previous tornadoes of 1999 and 2003. It would be interesting to see how the houses reconstructed after the previous tornadoes perform in this tornado. Even though there are close to 1,000 tornadoes recorded each year, typically less than 10 tornadoes are rated EF 4 and EF 5. When an EF 5 tornado impacts a city there is a unique opportunity to document and learn from the building damage. This tornado damaged two schools, dozens of commercial buildings, and over one thousand residential structures. RAPID funding provides an opportunity to document the structural damage before cleanup efforts remove the debris. The project team will work with other RAPID grantee teams in the field to improve coverage of the damage area and avoid duplication. The team of faculty members and students will travel to the damage site and document failure modes, materials of construction, location of structures with respect to the center of the path, and debris impacts for each documented structure. Social media (twitter) will be used to obtain photos and comments made by citizens. The mining of the social media will enhance damage documentation at specific locations. The RAPID team will develop contour maps of EF ratings and wind speeds based on observed Degrees of Damage. These maps will be compared with past tornado studies to evaluate the similarities and differences. This comparison will contribute to the understanding of the spatial characteristics of tornado wind forces on structures. Building failure progression will be determined in different wind speed zones. The benefits and challenges of using social media to improve disaster assessment will be determined.