Wind and Rainfall Losses from Future Hurricanes

Abstract

Hurricane is a combination of two extreme events - intense wind and heavy rainfall. The simultaneous occurrence of these two events magnify the overall damage and losses. This could be distinctively observed in residential buildings where high wind speed damages the external structure through which rainfall can enter damaging the interior and content. Further, various studies have shown that future climate could be different from present and the change in climate may affect the hurricane activities. However, the change in climate may have varying degree of impact on hurricane wind and rain and the corresponding losses. Consideration of wind and rainfall losses individually allows a more comprehensive investigation of climate change impact on future hurricane losses and also provides important insights into effective hurricane risk management. Thus, this study evaluates and compares these two types of hurricane losses in residential buildings for climate-dependent future hurricane scenarios.