Hurricane vulnerability of multi-story residential buildings in Florida

In recent years, a multi-disciplinary team has developed the Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model. The model combines state-of-the-art technology in the fields of meteorology, engineering, actuarial science, and computer science to predict hurricane-induced losses for single-family homes. The model is now being extended to cover multi-family buildings ranging from a few stories to the high rise condominiums typically found lining the beaches of South Florida. These are engineered structures with a large variety of structural types, shapes, and heights. To address the challenge of predicting hurricane losses for these structures, the meteorologists are developing a new 3D model of the wind field, and the engineers are working on a new vulnerability model to incorporate the effects of height and associated air jets on the buildings' vulnerabilities. The first step in this process is to carry out a comprehensive survey of the multi-family buildings stock in Florida, to identify the most prevalent characteristics of the structures, their relationship to hurricane risk, and their geographic distribution. This paper describes the outcome of the exposure study, with an analysis of the hurricane risk attached to multi-family, multi-story buildings and a comparison to single-family homes. The authors conclude with a description of the strategy developed to quantify the potential hurricane losses associated with a portfolio of multi-unit structures including building and contents losses, and additional living expenses.