(U-WIRE) OXFORD, Miss. – A recent study by members of the Mississippi State University community gives support to Mississippi’s state building codes.
Thomas White, professor and head of civil engineering at MSU, said the study was conducted by many different agencies.
“This study was conducted by a mixture of people,” White said. “We had civil engineering faculty, faculty from the Georesources Institute at MSU and students from the institute also participated in the study.”
According to White, the study was conducted to investigate the effects of Hurricane Katrina on buildings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
“The purpose of the study was to make an evaluation of the types of damage to various types of structures along the Gulf Coast impacted by both the storm surge and winds from Hurricane Katrina,” White said.
White said the group traveled to the Gulf Coast to begin their study.
“We visited the Gulf Coast and we observed the performance of various types of structures there,” White said. “We observed structures such as large-scale commercial structures of reinforced concrete and steel. We also observed smaller structures of reinforced concrete and steel.”
The study concluded that a building code would have reduced the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
“From the types of distress, it was apparent that many of the failures could have been prevented or the severity reduced if an appropriate building code had been in place,” White said.
According to the study, an additional conclusion was reached by the group.
“In addition, it was the height of the storm surge that had been beyond what people had expected and land use has infringed upon areas that would be impacted by high storm surges,” White said. “And so a parallel conclusion of our study was that there should be a two-prong approach to rebuilding. Planning so that development and redevelopment would not be in an area that could be impacted and a building code.”
Helen V. Kelleum, a longtime Mississippi resident, said the results of the study give her some comfort.
“I do feel safer knowing that people are researching causes for disaster in the area,” Kelleum said. “It shows that next time, the state will be prepared for any hurricane the Coast may face.”
