Multihazard Interaction Effects on the Performance of Low-Rise Wood-Frame Housing in Hurricane-Prone Regions

Abstract

Hurricanes represent multihazard events that include wind, windborne debris, storm surge, and rainfall hazards. Conventional risk analysis does not consider the interaction between these multiple hazards and treats each risk source as statistically independent of other hazards. In this paper, the effects of multihazard interaction on the performance of low-rise wood-frame residential buildings subject to hurricane hazard are investigated using the performance-based hurricane engineering (PBHE) framework. The use of different hazard-modeling techniques and vulnerability analysis approaches is examined. A new, consistent terminology to classify different hazard-modeling techniques is also proposed. A case study consisting of a realistic building in an actual residential development in Charleston, South Carolina, is presented to investigate the effects of hazard interaction in the different phases of the PBHE framework. Three different hazard-modeling techniques (based on different amounts of available statistical information) and two vulnerability analysis approaches (global vulnerability and assembly-based vulnerability) are considered, for a total of six combinations of loss analysis results for each location. It is concluded that the use of different hazard models and vulnerability approaches can significantly affect the final results of a loss analysis.