Building Destruction from Waves and Surge on the Bolivar Peninsula during Hurricane Ike
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Volume 137, Issue 3
Abstract
The Bolivar Peninsula in Texas was severely impacted by Hurricane Ike with strong winds, large waves, widespread inundation, and severe damage. This paper examines the wave and surge climate on Bolivar during the storm and the consequent survival and destruction of buildings. Emphasis is placed on differences between buildings that survived (with varying degrees of damage) and buildings that were completely destroyed. Building elevations are found to be the primary indicator of survival for areas with large waves. Here, buildings that were sufficiently elevated above waves and surge suffered relatively little structural damage, while houses at lower elevations were impacted by large waves and generally completely destroyed. In many areas, the transition from destruction to survival was over a very small elevation range of around 0.5 m. In areas where waves were smaller, survival was possible at much lower elevations. Higher houses that were not inundated still survived, but well-built houses at lower elevations could also survive as the waves were not large enough to cause structural damage. However, the transition height where waves became damaging could not be determined from this study.
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Acknowledgments
Portions of this research were funded by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF0902264, Florida Sea Grant under grant UNSPECIFIEDR/C-S-46, The Florida Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems, the USGS Center for Coastal Geology, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Florida, and the University of Notre Dame.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 3 • May 2011
Pages: 132 - 141
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2010
Accepted: Jun 1, 2010
Published online: Jun 9, 2010
Published in print: May 1, 2011
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