One of the communities in the path of Hurricane Charley as it came ashore
August 13, 2004, was Punta Gorda, recording gusts up to 145 mph. This project
utilizes aerial photos taken approximately 10 days after the storm battered the
area, using a digital photography program. Focusing on the one-story residential
structures (houses) of the Punta Gorda area, a damage assessment could be
made of the area’s homes, and how they stood up to the storm. This study
focused further on homes built after major changes to the local/state building
codes went into effect (starting in 1996) after the devastation left in south Florida
by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. After selecting approximately 20 damaged
houses, damaged from wind loading only, an analysis of these houses (or types
of houses) could then be undertaken complying with the most current
building/wind codes used at the time of Charley’s landfall. Furthermore, by
looking at the pictures, and using reports outlining the types of damage seen
from the storm, the building/wind codes could then be checked for their
effectiveness.
After performing a wind loading analysis on houses similar to those seen in
the selected pictures, and using the wind code provisions of ASCE 7-98,
calculations show a substantial increase in local wind pressure to various zones
of the roof. High pressure zones of the roof included the ridges of the gable and
hipped style roofs, as well as the corners and the edges.
More emphasis needs to be placed on the installation of the clay tiles
(mandated by certain deed-restricted subdivisions of Punta Gorda). If the tiles
are ripped off from the wind, then the roof sheathing becomes exposed to the
environment, and if this becomes damaged, rain leaking down into the interior of
the house would cause additional damage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USF/oai:scholarcommons.usf.edu:etd-4944 |
| Date | 28 March 2006 |
| Creators | Newberry, James |
| Publisher | Scholar Commons |
| Source Sets | University of South Flordia |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | default |
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