BUILDING PERFORMANCE: HURRICANE ANDREW IN FLORIDA

In September 1992, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) Federal
Insurance Administration (PIA), at the request of the FEMA Disaster Field Office
staff, assembled a Building Performance Assessment Team. The team consisted of
FEMA Headquarters and Regional staff, professional consulting engineers, and a
Metro Dade County building official.

In conducting its survey, the assessment team investigated primary structural
systems of buildings, i.e, systems that support the building against all lateral
and vertical loads experienced during a hurricane. In general, it was observed that wood-
frame modular buildings performed relatively well (FIA-22, 1992).