Investigation of damage to structures following Cyclone Connie.

Includes 33 figs and 2 tables

Technical report

Cyclone 'Connie' crossed the Western Australian coast near Port Hedland on 19th January 1987. The cyclone was a moderate tropical cyclone (Intensity 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of five) and had an estimated maximum speed of approximately 45ms to the power of -1 at Port Hedland. The winds would have applied only 50% of design load to most structures. The performance of many structures in greater Port Hedland showed little or no damage, commensurate with the low loads applied. However, a number of buildings suffered structural damage that indicated systematic deficiencies in those buildings. Some of the damage was confined to details conventionally regarded as peripheral to the main structural system. Nevertheless, the damage had structural implications, in that internal pressures were substantially altered by the damage and in some cases adjacent structural elements were overloaded by partially detached components. Other damage was observed in buildings that had successfully withstood previous large cyclonic events. This damage was a consequence of hidden damage from the previous events and or deterioration of components due to corrosion