Wood Frame Building Response to Rapid-Onset Flooding

Abstract

Floods are considered to be among the deadliest, costliest, and most common natural disasters. Rapid-onset, catastrophic floods inundate the shore quickly and manifest as deep water with high velocities, inflict great pressures and forces on the built and natural environments, and pose a threat to human safety. Current building codes, design practices, and disaster planning methods account for potential earthquake and wind loads on simple wood-frame buildings typical of North American residential construction. However, flood impacts have not been considered to the same degree of detail. A theoretical model is developed that describes flood impacts on wood-frame residential buildings and relates building response to flood depth and velocity. The failure mechanisms considered and the model logic are described and applied to assess the response of a typical Canadian wood-frame home to flood conditions that might be experienced in a rapid-onset flood event.