On September 1 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in Elbow Cay in the Bahamas with sustained winds of 295 km/h and a central pressure of 910 mb, with subsequent landfalls in Marsh Harbour and Grand Bahama Island, where it stalled for two days. This paper presents field observations of Dorian's coastal hazards and impacts on the built environment in these locales, collected by the Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network. Data were collected using a mixed methodological approach: (1) surveying high-water marks and inundation extent, including an approximately 8 m high water mark in Marsh Harbour, (2) conducting surface-level forensic assessments of damage to 358 structures, and (3) rapidly imaging 475 km of routes using street-level panoramas. Field observations are complemented by a debris field analysis using high-resolution satellite imagery. Observed performance reiterates the potential for well-confined, elevated construction to perform well under major hurricanes, but with the need to codify such practices through the addition of storm surge design provisions and an increase in the design wind speeds in the Bahamas Building Code. This study further demonstrates the value of robust reconnaissance infrastructure for capturing perishable data following hurricanes and making such data rapidly available using publicly accessible platforms.

Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) has been well described in farmworkers in Latin America. Agricultural workers in the United States (US) are exposed to similar hot and humid working conditions, but CKDu in the US is under-described. This review aims to better understand the current literature describing the connection between heat stress and kidney function in farmworkers in the United States. Utilizing a scoping review methodology, we searched CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases to better understand the current state of the heat stress and kidney function research in farmworkers within the United States. In this review, 229 pieces of literature were screened. Ultimately, 4 articles were chosen to be included in the scoping review. Common themes within the articles were variations in study protocol lengths and type of heat stress measurement. Additionally, the majority of the work completed was quantitative to date, with only one study providing a critical social lens for analysis of CKDu in the United States. We found evidence that more work is needed within the US to understand the relationship between working in the heat and kidney function in agricultural and other workers who experience high heat conditions at work and are susceptible to the deleterious effects of working in said conditions.

Purpose This paper aims to understand how experience with the fringe effects of a cyclone influences perception of cyclone severity. Understanding how certain types of experience influences risk perception should help to clarify why there is an unclear link between experience and risk perception within the existing literature. Design/methodology/approach A total of 155 respondents with fringe cyclone experience were recruited to fill in a closed-ended question survey. The survey was designed to assess perceptions of a previous cyclone and future cyclone severity. Findings Most respondents who had experienced the fringe effects of a cyclone overestimated the wind speed in their location. Respondents who overestimated previous cyclone wind speed also predicted less damage from future Category 5 cyclones. Research limitations/implications This research indicates that overestimating the severity of past cyclones can have a detrimental effect on how people predict damage due to high category cyclones. Practical implications The findings suggest that people with fringe cyclone experience need additional information to help reshape their perceptions of cyclone severity. Originality/value This paper provides a unique perspective on the relationship between experience and risk perception by demonstrating that experience on the fringe of a cyclone has a negative influence on risk perception.

Psychological theory suggests there is a positive association between risk perception and protective behavior. Empirical research has, however, found mixed support for the positive link between risk perception and protective behavior. One explanation for the inconsistent link is the way in which risk perception has been conceptualized and/or operationalized in past research. Specifically, few studies acknowledge differences in hazard severity and how it might affect risk perception and protective behavior. Past research has also tended to overlook the importance of emotional appraisal in relation to perceived hazard consequences. To address these inconsistencies in past research, 337 people living in a cyclone-prone location were recruited to participate in an online study. In this study, respondents were randomly presented with one of five hypothetical cyclone scenarios, which differed in objective severity. Respondents were also presented with a survey, which assessed risk perception, protective action perceptions (or coping appraisal), and intentions to perform short-term protective behaviors. As hypothesized, risk perception significantly increased preparedness intentions when controlling for hazard severity, hazard probability, and protective action perceptions. Moreover, the degree to which respondents associated negative emotions with predicted damage was also a relatively strong predictor of preparedness intentions. Overall, the findings support the theoretical link between risk perception and protective behavior and provide a new method of assessing risk perception in cross-sectional research. On a practical level, the results suggest that increasing risk perception should promote protective behavior in response to natural hazards.

Structural upgrades can mitigate property damage caused by tropical cyclones. However, people in high-risk areas do not always install these upgrades. This paper used the protective action decision model (PADM) as a theoretical framework for explaining one specific type of structural mitigation behavior: the installation of cyclone shutters. The results indicated that the degree to which people think and talk about cyclones (hazard intrusiveness) was a significant predictor of behavior but that risk perception was not. Moreover, the results show that people need to perceive that installing shutters has benefits beyond mitigating damage (e.g., increases property value and has utility for other purposes). Contrary to past research, it was also found that the perceived cost of shutter installation (in terms of time, money, and effort) was important. The results provide evidence for the utility of the PADM for explaining long-term, high-cost natural hazard mitigation behavior.

Purpose: The last 5 years have been the hottest years on record during the modern era. Due to increasing temperatures, outdoor workers are exposed to hotter working conditions and are at increasing risk for suffering from heat-related illness, heat stroke, and death. Unfortunately, a migrant farmworker died from heat stoke during 2018 in Southern Georgia, precipitating the need to understand baseline knowledge of heat-illness among farmworkers in Georgia, in partnership with the Farmworker Family Health Program.Methods: Migrant farmworkers (n = 60), mean age of 28.75 years, 81.7% born male/identified as male, were surveyed to assess knowledge of heat-related illness first-aid. The survey used in this study was adapted from the Questionnaire for Heat-related Illness among Migrant Farmworker Populations in Southern Georgia, and the pilot questions on heat-related illness first aid were developed using the NIOSH Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments.Results: Most knowledge-focused questions of heat-related illness were answered incorrectly by more than 50% of workers. Only 26.7% of workers identified the period of time to acclimatization, 0% of workers were able to identify the ten symptoms of heat-illness, and 45% of workers were able to correctly identify that if someone was sweating they could still be experiencing heat stroke. Of the workers, 50% knew that 9-1-1 was the emergency assistance number, only 20% of workers were able to identify the time between symptom onset and calling 9-1-1, and 0% of workers were able to correctly identify the anatomical locations to help cool a person experiencing heat stroke.Conclusions: Farmworkers lack the appropriate level of knowledge to provide sufficient first-aid to a co-worker experiencing heat illness. The results of this study highlight the need to empower migrant farmworkers and employers in Southern Georgia through additional training so they can gain the first-aid knowledge necessary to prevent morbidity and mortality in high-heat conditions.

Vulnerability models for housing during extreme wind events are a critical part of modern catastrophe modelling used to inform insurance pricing, policy-making, emergency management, etc. Historically, the most robust vulnerability model development has taken place in the US. However, since structural systems in the US differ significantly, it is important that Australia-specific models are available and fully described in the literature. Development in Australia has continuously progressed since early works of the 1970s, although much of the research exists in unpublished format. Models from unpublished studies have been used broadly in academia, insurance and by policymakers, in many cases without a clear understanding of underlying assumptions and limitations. The aim of this paper is to provide a review and clarification of these models and introduce the Vulnerability and Adaption to Wind Simulation (VAWS) model, which takes an engineering-based approach. An overview of VAWS program logic and engineering assumptions is presented in addition to a comparison of outputs for one cyclonic region house type with existing models and insurance claims data. For the housing style considered, results suggest that VAWS can provide a better estimate of vulnerability than existing Australian models and those from abroad, not specific to Australian construction.

Among patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), IgM levels increased early after symptom onset for those with mild and severe disease, but IgG levels increased early only in those with severe disease. A similar pattern was observed in a separate serosurveillance cohort. Mild COVID-19 should be investigated separately from severe COVID-19.

Real-time feedback loop of kHz repetition rate, high intensity laser sets new challenges to the traditional modeling concept. We present a deep learning approach to model amplification and laser-induced damage in CPA laser system enabling high speed analysis above tens of kHz.© 2019 The Author(s)

Cyclones cause significant damage to property, infrastructure and housing Fotunately property owners can undertake structural upgrades to reduce damage However, installation of structural upgrades in cyclon prone regions such as North Queensland has been relatively low. This paper explains why e people do, and others do install structural upgrades. Research to date has identified psychological factors that may predict mitigation behaviour or other natural hazards but here are few studies that investigated cyclone-specific mitigation behaviour. This paper addresses this gap and identifies the psychological factors that promote mitigation behaviour or structures and presents a method of segmenting groups based on these psychological factors. Implications for risk communication messages to promote the adoption of household-level structural upgrades are discussed.

Investigations of damage to buildings and analysis of insurance claims data following severe wind events have shown that there are still problems with the performance of contemporary engineered buildings. Significant financial loss in terms of cost of rebuilding or repair, and loss of functionality has been documented following recent severe Tropical Cyclones Yasi, Marcia, Olwyn and Debbie. The wind speeds in these events were less than the design level wind speed for buildings in the affected regions. This paper discusses damage to a range of contemporary engineered buildings ranging from luxury strata to single residential properties; and commercial, public and post-disaster buildings. In some cases, structural details failed leading to loss of large parts of the building envelope. In other cases, costly insurance claims arose from wind-driven water entering buildings through flashings, doors and windows, even when there was no damage to the building envelope. From the damage investigations and claims data analysis, several recommendations are detailed. These include; appropriate design and detailing for strength of connections for verandahs, awnings and carports; maintenance of components or durability design for components not easily accessible after construction, minimum standards for fixing flashings, etc.

Impact from wind-borne debris and the consequences of a breach in the building envelope during windstorms are design load criteria to consider in addition to other design actions such as wind pressure. Observations from past windstorm events reveal impact damage to buildings caused by structural members. These observations highlight the importance of testing building envelope components for resistance to wind-borne debris impacts. This chapter refers to wind-borne debris as missiles and the impacted wall or roof system as the target. The potential for damage depends on the missile impact load and the resistance provided by the building envelope. Missile impact loading can be analyzed in terms of missile impact velocity, mass of the missile in terms of kinetic energy and momentum, and missile impact area and nose shape.

Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coastline on August 25, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane. Wind gusts over 233 km/h and storm surge as high as 3 m caused widespread damage to buildings and critical infrastructure in coastal communities including Rockport, Fulton, Port Aransas, and Aransas Pass. Over a 12-day survey period, a study team led by the authors assessed the performance of more than 1,000 individual, geo-located residential buildings. This study presents an initial evaluation of empirical wind fragility functions for single-family residential structures impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The fragility functions are constructed using 3-second gust wind speeds adjusted by local ground surface roughness as the demand parameter. The analysis finds that the local terrain is a significant factor in determining the level of damage for structures. High variability is observed in the wind speed to damage relationship.

Investigating a traditional wind tunnel method for determining the wind resistance of 1 roofing tiles 2 3 Daniel J. Smith, Forrest J. Masters, Arindam G. Chowdhury, 4 5 Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, 365 Weil Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA 6 College of Science, Technology, and Engineering, Cyclone Testing Station, James Cook University, Townsville, 7 QLD 4811, Australia 8 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Intl. Hurricane Research Center, Florida Intl. University, 9 10555 W. Flagler St. Miami, FL 33174, USA 10 Corresponding Author. Tel. +61 07 4781 5512. Email Addresses: daniel.smith8@jcu.edu.au (Daniel J. Smith), 11 masters@ce.ufl.edu (Forrest J. Masters), chowhur@fiu.edu (Arindam G. Chowdhury) 12 13 Abstract 14 Current design loads for roofing tile systems in the U.S. are determined based on a standardized 15 wind tunnel testing method developed in the 1990s to examine wind-induced pressures on the 16 upper and lower surfaces of the tile. The method neglects several key parameters that are well 17 known to affect wind loading (e.g. wind angle, specimen shape, boundary conditions, etc.). The 18 research objective of this study is to investigate this method by [1] characterizing wind-induced 19 surface pressure distributions on field tiles for varying wind angles of attack and [2] measuring 20 load path intensity through mechanically fastened tile attachments. Surface pressure distributions 21 were measured on three full-size, rapid prototyped roofing tile models with 256 pressure taps 22 immersed in wind flows. The models are geometrically identical to low-, mediumand high-profile 23 concrete roofing tiles that are widely used in high wind areas. Additionally, their real counterparts 24 were instrumented with load cells to measure reaction forces at mechanical fasteners. The results 25 highlight areas of the method that are lacking in specificity and shows that the method may yield 26 conservative parameters for lowand medium-profile tiles but is potentially not conservative for 27 asymmetric (s-shaped) high-profile tiles. 28

The Cyclone Testing Station (CTS) and partners have conducted forensic damage assessments in Australia following severe windstorm events for over four decades. The information collected is used for building science research that provides the evidence base needed for improvements to building codes and development of damage mitigation solutions. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) operate Rapid Damage Assessment (RDA) teams in the aftermath of major disasters (e.g. cyclone and bushfire) to collect and disseminate information on extent of damage to buildings in impacted communities. These data enables focused and coordinated response in the immediate aftermath of an event and better planning for event recovery. This paper explores the use of QFES RDA datasets in analysing the damaging effects of severe windstorm events. Two case studies are discussed: a supercell that hit Brisbane on 27 November 2014 and Tropical Cyclone Debbie that made landfall along the northern Queensland coastline in March 2017. Where possible, damage data are combined with hazard information (dual-Doppler radar horizontal wind fields) and their relationship is investigated. The analysis demonstrates that RDA data are not only useful in response and recovery phases, but also have value for research aiming to better understand building failures and reduce damage in future events.

The primary aims of this study were to characterize the three-dimensional wind structure of the supercell that impacted Brisbane on 27 November 2014 and compare available Doppler radar data with near-surface in situ wind histories and ground-based damage survey data. Single- and dual-Doppler radar data show that the storm downdraft impacted the Archerfield Airport automatic weather station (AWS), which recorded peak one-minute mean and maximum three-second gust wind speeds of 31.4 ms and 39.2 ms respectively. After passing through Arch-erfield, the storm evolved into a supercell, but produced weaker wind speeds at the Brisbane AWS. Dual-Doppler radar horizontal wind profiles above the AWSs evolved from synoptic boundary layer wind profiles into thunderstorm outflow wind profiles that varied spatially and temporally. Most of the wind damage observed after the event was around Archerfield, while hail damage was observed across the entire study region.