Hurricane-Induced Surge and Inland Flooding Effects on Localized Near-Surface Wind Flows in Suburban Coastal Communities

Near-surface hurricane wind fields that interact with suburban coastal communities are often accompanied by storm surges that can radically transform the coastal landscape. With this transformation, the wind structure near the suburban canopy can undergo significant changes as the surge moves inland and flood levels increase. Current wind load provisions and standards (e.g., ASCE 7) neglect potential changes to surface roughness characteristics due to surge-driven flooding. To address this knowledge gap, this study attempts to numerically simulate surface roughness changes of suburban coastal communities resulting from hurricane-induced flooding. An initial series of steady Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations are carried out to systematically evaluate the impact of inland flooding on the near-surface mean wind structures for a representative suburban coastal community. Preliminary results indicate that coastal flooding can lead to distinctly different near-surface wind fields with the potential to increase the localized wind intensity and attenuate the flow structures in suburban communities.