Cyclone damage to buildings and structures - a case study

The coastal belt of peninsular India, especially the east coast, experience s frequent cyclones. Such cyclones coupled with storm surges cause loss of lives and inflict severe damage to a variety of structures, houses, commerc ial buildings, industrial structures and many life-line installations. Stru ctural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Madras, has been conducting post -disaster damage surveys on buildings and structures ravaged by cyclones fr om time to time. Detailed surveys an undertaken after the occurrence of eve ry severe cyclone in the peninsular India since 1977. The Centre has conduc ted a damage survey of buildings and structures due to a severe cyclone, wh ich hit the east coast of India, near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh State, South India, during November 1996. The maximum wind speed of the cyclone, as rep orted by the India Meteorological Department, was about 61 m/s and it was a ccompanied by storm surges of height upto 5 m. Typical failures observed in clude complete collapse of roofing system in most of the dwellings and semi -engineered buildings with thatch, tiles and AC sheets, failure of connecti ons, failure of gable walls, and progressive collapse of roof steel trusses . This paper illustrates, with photographs, the damage caused to different types of structures. The paper also suggests simple and useful guidelines t o improve the resistance of different structures against cyclonic forces. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.