Damage to Engineered Buildings and Bridges in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005 causing significant damage to the built environment including buildings, roads and bridges, utility distribution systems for electric power and water, waste water collection facilities, and vital communication networks. This paper details post-disaster field reconnaissance of the Gulf Coast immediately following Hurricane Katrina organized by MCEER. The objectives of the reconnaissance were to examine and document the impact of Hurricane Katrina from a multi-hazard perspective. More specifically, lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina are being evaluated to mitigate damage not only from future hurricanes, but also from other extreme events such as earthquakes or terrorist attacks. As an example, a multi-hazard objective of this mission was to identify similarities between damage typically observed after earthquakes and damage caused by Hurricane Katrina with the goal of identifying seismic design principles that could mitigate structural damage caused by wind and storm surge forces. Researchers observed extensive losses from nonstructural damage to cladding, windows, and roof-mounted equipment while the structural frame remained undamaged. In storm surge regions such as the Mississippi coast, however, structural damage was observed in buildings and bridges exposed to storm surge and impact from large storm surge debris such as barges, much of which relates to tsunami risk.