Hurricane Andrew—Structural Performance of Buildings in South Florida

This report describes the structural performance of residential and low‐rise commercial structures in south Florida, based on observations from onsite inspections conducted within one week after Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami region on August 24, 1992. All types of construction—concrete, masonry, steel, and wool—were inspected by a 45‐member task group consisting of structural engineers, scientists, building‐code officials, and technical representatives of the building‐construction industry. The task group included a team of three technical and field promotion staff members from the American Plywood Association, Tacoma, Wash. The report concentrates primarily on the observed performance of wood systems. Observations and conclusions are presented dealing with roofing attachment, wood structural panel roof sheathing (both plywood and oriented strand board) and its attachment to framing and gable‐end roof systems in particular, and walls and connections of components. Some general observations are made concerning the performance of other structures during this event.