This collaborative Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Grant provides funding to collect field data about damage by Hurricane Isaac to transmission lines, distribution lines and electrical substations. The power loss resulting from this hurricane affected more than one million households and businesses, and the restoration for over 250,000 customers took more than 72 hours. The specific reasons for these power outages are not known, though it is reported that more than 40 substations were damaged either by wind or flood. It is important to collect the data about damages to transmission and distribution lines quickly, and to determine whether the cause of the damage was by wind or by flood.
The data that will be collected under this award will be archived on the web site of the American Association for Wind Engineering enabling access to other researchers. These data will also be archived by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
We identified, collected and disseminated extensive data for use by the wind engineering community and related professionals in damage assessment, performance evaluation and recovery studies. The principal investigator traveled to the region and collaborated with the LSU team on data collection, with particular emphasis on the flooded areas. We have prepared maps, using special software for geographical studies, of the storm region with the storm surge and wind speeds for comparison with recorded damage to the power delivery system. The unique aspects of Hurricane Isaac were identified: The storm was relatively slow-moving with high rainfall and surprisingly low wind speeds. Structural damage to the power delivery system was greater than anticipated and resulted in a class action suit being filed against Entergy. At the time of this report, the outcome of this lawsuit is unknown. The engineering data as well as documents related to the meteorological aspects of the storm and related damage are accessible on our websites. The website associated with the University of Washington is http://depts.washington.edu/hurisaac. A presentation at the 12th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering held in Seattle, Washington on June 16-20, 2013 was made by the collaborative team: Baskarian, M., C. Friedland and D.A. Reed (2013). "Collection and Organization of Hurricane Damage Data for Civil Infrastructure," Proc. of the 12ACWE, available at www.12acwe.org. A graduate research assistant at the University of Washington supported by this grant received instruction and training in the collection of engineering data, its representation in databases and mapping software, and the creation of a website devoted to the project.
