WindHRP Annual Progress Report to the SDR

1. Briefing on WindHRP Annual Progress Report to the SDR John Gaynor, Chair, Wind Impact Reduction Interagency Working Group

3. Objective of the Program:

4. Windstorm Impact Reduction Interagency Working Group NIST* NSF* NOAA* (Designated Chair) FEMA* (DHS) FHWA HUD * Specified in legislation Convened: January, 2005 Meets and reports A/L quarterly to SDR Chair of the working group will rotate between NIST, NSF, NOAA and FEMA with each Agency serving a two-year term as chair. Annual progress report

5. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP PROCESS: • Inventory and assess existing wind hazard research, mitigation, and preparedness • Define overall needs for wind hazard research, mitigation, and preparedness • Identify gaps in wind hazard research, mitigation, and preparedness • Make recommendations based on prioritized needs • Agencies address priorities in planning and budget processes

6. Areas of Focus of the WindHRP Plan • Understanding, predicting, and forecasting • Enhancing knowledge, information and data on severe winds • Improving prediction of hazardous wind events • Understanding and quantifying wind loading • Understanding the perception of wind hazard risk • Mapping wind hazards • Assessing impacts • Investigating wind resistance of buildings, structures and critical infrastructure • Developing improved tools for component- and structure-level simulation and numerical modeling of wind effects • Developing improved tools for loss assessment of wind hazards • Assessing social costs

7. Areas of Focus of the WindHRP Plan (Continued) • Reducing impacts • Assessing and communicating risk • Developing prototype structural requirements • Demonstration, education, training and outreach on improved codes and building guidelines • Guidance on retrofitting • Innovative technologies • Land use measures and cost effective construction practices • Preparedness and Enhancing Community Resilience • Developing tools for community preparedness to wind hazards • K-12 and college education needs • General public awareness and outreach • Evacuation planning • Enhancing disaster-resistance of building codes and standards • Building public and private partnerships • Conducting emergency response exercises

8. Priority Research Issues • Assessing individual and community capability to respond to wind events, including vulnerability analyses, risk perception, risk communication, risk management, communication of wind warnings and public response, evacuation capability, and public knowledge of appropriate protective actions for wind events, especially among vulnerable populations • Evaluating the response of the built environment and critical infrastructure to wind events by investigating aerodynamic response, load path, ultimate capacity and the performance of the building envelope • Assessing the impact of wind and windborne debris or wind and water/ice/snow • Examining the interaction between wind and storm surge to determine the impact on building foundations and critical infrastructure • Exploring the near-ground and channeling/shielding effects of winds on buildings through testing and instrumentation • Developing new technologies and ground, airborne and satellite based observing systems to improve knowledge and understanding of windstorms and the wind variability within those storms • Measuring the response of bridges and other highway structures to wind events, including stability, serviceability and functionality leading up to and through extreme events • Developing and implementing technologies for rapid repair and restoration of critical infrastructure and critical services

9. Progress by Agencies • NSF • Grants awards in: • Understanding, predicting and forecasting • Assessing the impacts of wind hazards • Reducing impacts of wind hazards • Preparedness and enhancing community resilience • NOAA • Development of plans • Providing data of use for wind hazard reduction • Decision support tools and analysis of wind hazards • Understanding and prediction weather conditions producing wind damage • Creating new facilities for improving our knowledge and prediction of wind hazards • Education and outreach

10. Progress by Agencies • NIST • Extreme Wind Databases • Advanced Computational Tools for Determining Realistic Wind Loads in the Built Environment • Methodologies for Predicting Ultimate Structural Capacities and Estimating Safety Margins • Assessing the Performance of Structures in Wind Disasters • Technical Basis for Improved Codes and Standards • U.S.-Japan Panel on Wind and Seismic Effects • FEMA • Risk Assessment • Windstorm-related data collection and analysis • Implementation of mitigation measures consistent with the Agency’s all-hazards approach • Public Outreach • Hurricane Program Coordination

11. Progress by Agencies • FWHA • Understanding, Predicting and Forecasting Wind Hazards • Assessing the Impact of Wind Hazards • Reducing the Impact of Wind Hazards • Preparedness and Enhancing Community Resilience

12. Summary of Progress • Despite the lack of appropriations for this program, agencies have been: • Enhancing knowledge, information and data on severe winds • Investigating wind resistance of buildings and structures (in particular, bridge structures) • Developing improved tools for loss assessment of wind hazards • Increasing general public awareness and outreach in very narrow areas • Evacuation planning assistance and guidance • During the past year, there has been little or no progress in: • Understanding the perception of wind hazard risk • Mapping wind hazards • Assessing and communicating risk • Developing prototype structural requirements • Guidance on retrofitting • Innovative technologies • Land use measures and cost effective construction practices • Building public and private partnerships • Conducting emergency response exercises

13. Gaps and Remaining Issues • Of the 8 highest priority research issues in the Implementation Plan, only one is being adequately addressed: • “measuring the response of bridges and other highway structures to wind events, including stability, serviceability and functionality leading up to and through extreme events” • Delivery of research results to users is not effective. • Interagency coordination is also lacking.

14. Next Steps • Next WindHRP Working Group meeting late January/early February • Perform not-so-detailed gaps analysis • Issues • Lack of funding for WindHRP inhibiting agency cooperation • Likely lack of interest in Congress • Concern that Congressional response (if any) to NSB hurricane study would create parallel coordinating structure • (personal thought) Would like to see coordination, leveraging, and coherency among WindHRP, response to NSB study, US-Japan Wind and Seismic Effects activity, and NIST-NOAA Hazard Resilient Communities collaboration.