Post-Cyclone Structural Damage Surveys
The coastal belt of peninsular India, especially the east coast, experiences frequent cyclones. Such cyclones coupled with storm surges cause loss of lives and inflict severe damage to a variety of structures, houses, commercial buildings, industrial structures and many life-line installations. CSIR-SERC has been conducting post-disaster damage surveys on buildings and structures ravaged by cyclones from time to time to identify most common types of failures. Detailed surveys are undertaken after the occurrence of every severe cyclone in the peninsular India since 1977. The most common types of failures observed during the recently occurred tropical cyclones, viz. Thane, Phailin, HudHud, are listed below:
- Blowing of Roof sheets and false ceilings of fuel filling stations
- Blowing of roof covering metal sheets and conventional asbestos sheets –Airport building (large roof), steel plant structures and many residential and industrial buildings.
- Broken Glass Cladding as well as metal sheet external cladding of many car show rooms, residential buildings, IT (Information Technology) Buildings.
- Rooftop lattice towers, ground based communication / transmission-line lattice towers.
- Steel trusses with asbestos or G.I. sheet roofing of industrial sheds (either mono or double sloped).
- total / partial collapse of semi / non-engineered structures like compound walls, roofs of dwelling units (kutcha / thatched houses).
