POST-DISASTER INVESTIGATION OF STRUCTURES IN EASTERN INDIA AT VISAKHAPATNAM AFTER VERY SEVERE CYCLONE HUDHUD

This thesis reports a systematic post-disaster assessment of structures after the Very Severe Cyclone (VSC) Hudhud in eastern India during October 2014, which is the strongest storm event to hit any Indian city. Started as a tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal, Hudhud demonstrated unique climate phenomenon that resulted in massive snow dump in Nepal (1,200 km away from the Bay). The damage assessment of over 100 structures in Visakhapatnam (Vizag) of Andhra Pradesh, India, has been performed based on ground observations and is reported herein. A rating technique ranked damaged conditions based on a 0 to 3 score is used for the study. From 114 structures analyzed, the rating outcomes indicate unique wind damage distributions in Vizag that demonstrated likely sustained strong wind forces that carried its water contents further inland.This thesis offers a first-order assessment of the effect of the VSC Hudhud and the assessment outcomes for the structures investigated are listed in the Appendix at the end of this thesis.