Large damage bills to buildings from cyclones can be reduced by small actions

Recent severe tropical cyclones and storms impacting Australian cities and towns have resulted in large financial losses due to damaged buildings and property. Disruption to livelihoods during the repair/rebuilding prolongs recovery for the community. Damage investigations by the Cyclone Testing Station estimate the wind speeds for the majority of the regions investigated were less than the design wind speeds for contemporary construction (i.e. for buildings less than 35 years old). The damage building assessments show a significant proportion of the losses are due to contemporary buildings. This raises issues as to appropriateness of our building construction, Codes, engineering design practices, and ongoing maintenance.