Digital Reconnaissance and Performance Assessment of Rural Infrastructure for 2018 Natural Hazards

Abstract

The goal of this investigation is to assess the performance of rural structures in natural hazard events in 2018. Digital reconnaissance was implemented to retrieve data on damage-inflicting events, where collected data included a general summary of the event, the severity of damage inflicted, and the types of structures affected. To better understand the benefits and shortcomings of digital reconnaissance, findings are compared with those of traditional, field reconnaissance for two hazard events. The 2018 digital reconnaissance database is analyzed to discern regional, structural, and event-type trends and the fragility of specific rural structural systems. The investigation identified that, in 2018, damaged rural structures substantially outnumbered damaged urban structures, and the vast majority of damaging events occurred in the South and Midwest regions of the United States. Structures typical of rural areas, particularly barns, grain bins/silos, and manufactured homes, proved especially vulnerable, with many of these structures suffering complete failure in events causing only minor damage to structures more typical of urban areas. However, a comparison with field reconnaissance indicated that quantities of damaged structures are likely underestimated through digital reconnaissance, particularly in rural areas.