New Facility to Test Home and Infrastructure Resistance to Category 6 Hurricanes and Storm Surge

Here in the Florida Keys, and elsewhere throughout the region, many shudder when they hear two simple words - “Hurricane Season.” Like it or not, it is a fact of life if you live in the Keys. Every year from June through November, residents and homeowners need to be prepared for the possibility of a major hurricane hitting and the danger and damage implications that come with it. Most seasoned residents already have a plan that they execute every year to protect themselves and their properties in the event of a storm. Meteorologists, however, are becoming increasingly concerned over the changing nature of hurricanes that have been seen in recent years. Not only are we seeing increasingly more active seasons, but storms are becoming stronger and intensifying more rapidly than ever, at a consistent rate. In light of this, scientists are taking measures to understand the weather patterns, and engineers are designing new ways to help us prepare ourselves.

Florida International University in Miami has long had an Extreme Events Institute. In the facility, scientists have a wall of fans that are capable of producing winds up to 160 mph, which are representative of a category 5 hurricane. Here, they test infrastructure to see how they can withstand the winds, as well as study the power that the winds create. 

This year, FIU’s Extreme Events Institute was given a $12.8 million grant by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to outfit the facility with the equipment necessary to increase the capabilities to simulate winds that would equate to a category 6 hurricane - up to 200 mph. They will also build a huge water basin in the facility to be able to create a similar storm surge that would come with these winds during a hurricane. Using these capabilities, researchers will use today’s current building code to construct buildings, and other infrastructure like bridges, and test their ability to withstand these conditions. This will help scientists and researchers to better understand how these stronger storms that we are seeing will impact our homes and cities. It is also the hope that they will get a better understanding of changes that will need to be made to the building code to ensure that our infrastructure is strong enough to withstand the storms that will come in the future.

This groundbreaking project will have massive implications for the future of Florida Keys real estate. The Keys lie right in the warm water path of many storms every year. With our sea-level elevation and predominance of waterfront properties, testing the storm surge and finding solutions to avoid the massive flooding that is possible will be key to protecting our homes and properties, particularly our Fl Keys waterfront properties. Finding ways to build stronger homes to withstand the winds will protect our homes for generations to come. Work will begin soon on this trailblazing project, and we look forward to seeing the results!